Avon Vale Hunt thrown out of sport's governing body

A still from a video that apparently shows a fox being pulled out of its den

The governing body for hunting in the UK has expelled a hunt after a video of a "potentially illegal" fox hunt was posted online.

The clip appears to show members of the Avon Vale Hunt dig a fox from its den before throwing it to fox hounds.

A British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) disciplinary panel found it revealed "serious breaches" of its core principals and rules.

The Wiltshire hunt has 14 days to respond to the findings.

Police are also investigating the video clip in which one fox appears to be pulled out of its den, before another jumps out from underground.

Cheers and laughter are then heard as the hounds apparently pursue the foxes.

The video, which was reported by ITV, has sparked outrage amongst animal conservationists, including naturalist Chris Packham who said the practice of fox hunting has to end.

Chris Packham has been campaigning against fox hunting for years

"I'm not saying that from the perspective of a minority or as an extremist," Mr Packham said.

"The vast majority of people in the UK, more than 80% of them, want to see the end of fox hunting."

The BHSA panel reviewed the film and heard evidence from the joint masters, the acting chairman and the kennel huntsman of the Avon Vale Hunt.

In a statement, the BHSA said: "The panel found that on the balance of probabilities the evidence revealed serious breaches of the core principles and rules of the BHSA."

It said the panel "were minded to permanently to expel the hunt and its masters, huntsman and kennel huntsman from membership of the BHSA.

"This would mean that in all probability the Hunt would no longer be able to function."

Wiltshire Police have launched an appeal to identify those involved in the alleged hunt.

In a statement, Ch Insp James Brain said: "We take any allegations of wildlife offences extremely seriously and we would urge anyone with information that could identify those in this video to contact ourselves or Crimestoppers at the earliest opportunity.

"We take a robust approach to wildlife crime and are actively investigating the circumstances depicted in this footage."