Hunting supporters have defied opposition from Chris Packham and the local council to go ahead with a centuries-old Boxing Day meet.
Hundreds attended the hunt in Tiverton, Devon, amid Labour’s plans to ban trail hunting.
TV presenter Chris Packham branded the hunt ‘a horrific spectacle’, while the council said the meet was ‘not welcome’.
The naturalist added the hunt was ‘ethically and morally bankrupt’ and urged Tiverton council to reject it.
The council last month overwhelmingly voted to back a motion which declared: ‘The hunt meet is not welcome in Tiverton on Boxing Day, or any other day.’
But the Tiverton Foxhounds hunting group have met on Boxing Day outside the Half Moon pub in the town square for around 200 years and vowed to continue.
And large crowds attended days after the Government announced plans to ban trail hunting in what has been criticised as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘war on the countryside’.
Farming communities remain furious with the Government despite a partial U-turn on inheritance tax breaks.
Hunting supporters have defied opposition from Chris Packham and the local council to go ahead with their centuries-old Boxing Day meet
Hundreds attended the hunt in Tiverton, Devon, amid Labour’s plans to ban trail hunting
The Countryside Alliance said the Government had ‘alienated rural people’, with one poll suggesting 65 per cent of voters believe Labour has unfairly neglects country communities.
One of the largest hunt meetings takes place on the Duke of Beaufort’s estate near Badminton, Gloucestershire.
Will Bryer, the joint master of the Duke of Beaufort Hunt, said the countryside was ‘under siege and assault’ and that the Government would have a ‘fight’ on its hands.
Addressing a crowd at the meet, he said: ‘We’re under assault, we’re under siege, and like all fights it’s going to get messy. But we must, we must stand united. Hunting has a future, hunting will endure.’
Kelvin Thomas, of Tiverton Foxhounds, told Packham to stay out of rural affairs and said he would be returning next year.
Speaking on horseback to crowds, he said: ‘He’s been very, very vocal about joining the lobby who are not going to welcome us here today.
‘So, despite the fact several of his bosses at the BBC have already jumped over the side, hopefully he won’t be too far behind.
‘Better if he just left rural issues to us and he got on with his job and the urban Government got on with theirs, we’d all get along, no issue. Apparently we’re not welcome and you’re not welcome – but nice to see you anyway.’
In last month’s council meeting, councillor Tony Wheeler, who proposed the motion, said: ‘When we were out asking the public what they wanted us to do if elected, the hunt being unwelcome in our town came up again and again.’
Hunt supporters brandished a cardboard cut-out of Chris Packham as they attended the Tiverton meet
He said it was a strong and emotive subject but people could not be seen to be ‘muddling around in the middle’.
The council resolved ‘the Hunt Meet is not welcome in Tiverton on Boxing Day, or any other day.’
In response, a spokesperson for the Tiverton Foxhounds said they would carry out their Boxing Day meet as usual.
‘However, safety must come first,’ they said.
‘If there is any threat of disruption or confrontation, the hunt will not put people at risk and will liaise with the police as necessary.’
They added they did not object to the ‘strong views being expressed’ at the council meeting but was surprised no one from the hunt was notified or invited to contribute.
They said they would ‘gladly welcome’ any councillor or resident to visit the kennels.
‘Everything is run in the open: hound welfare, veterinary standards, feed, exercise, trail laying and training all take place under clear rules and oversight,’ they said.
‘People may disagree about tradition but it is difficult to hold a fair view without first seeing the reality. That is why our invitation stands.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who described Labour as ‘authoritarian control freaks’, was pictured attending a Boxing Day hunt today as the Prime Minister moves to ban trail hunting.
Starmer has been warned he has a long way to go to rebuild trust with country communities, following a partial climbdown which saw Labour backtrack on its plans to force farmers to pay inheritance tax on any assets over £1million.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who described Labour as ‘authoritarian control freaks’, joined hunters at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent
As Boxing Day hunts clashed with his looming crackdown on the only form of fox hunting that remains legal in the UK, farmers learned the threshold would now rise to £2.5million.
But if the Government hoped the move would earn them some grace with rural residents, the announcement of the intention to ban trail hunting just days before the traditional Boxing Day events has hindered efforts.
Boxing Day hunts typically see heated clashes across the country between participants and animal welfare campaigners, who say the annual practice, participated in by a minority of countryside dwellers, is outdated and amounts to animal cruelty.
But Farage held no such qualms as he joined hunters at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent, where he was pictured drinking a pint and smoking.
