Charity buys land to 'prevent fox hunting' in Somerset

The land was bought at auction for £160,000

The League Against Cruel Sports has spent £160,000 on land in Somerset to prevent fox hunting taking place there.

It has bought 50 acres (20.2 hectares) of Brockhole Woods at Brompton Regis in Dulverton to expand the size of its Baronsdown sanctuary.

A spokesman said the land was "slap in the middle of a hunting area".

The Countryside Alliance said none of its members had hunted in the woods and it did not understand why the land was seen as "of strategic importance".

The League bought the land despite announcing it would sell some of its land to help fund a £1m campaign against the repeal of the Hunting Act.

Spokesman Steve Taylor said: "The hunts in the area will say they are hunting entirely within the law, so in that sense it's not important but it is strategically important because it increases the overall size of the estate."

A spokesman from Avon and Somerset Police said the force had not received any complaints about illegal hunting in the area.