Warwickshire Hunt served with notice by police after officers say they continued to cause danger on south Warwickshire roads

Warwickshire Police has issued a Community Protection Notice to Warwickshire Hunt Limited after causing danger on the roads in south Warwickshire.

The Warwickshire Rural Crime Team branch of Warwickshire Police announced that they had taken action yesterday (Wednesday December 14).

The team said the notice came after the Warwickshire Hunt were served a warning earlier in the year and that there had continued to be issues on the roads.

In November, The Courier and Banbury Guardian shared a story where drivers were forced to swerve and brake as the Warwickshire hunt hounds ran loose across the A422 near Stratford, which is a 50mph road.

The incident happened on November 23 and was filmed by West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs (WMHS). Following the incident, the Warwickshire Hunt did issue an apology.

Speaking about the Community Protection Notice on Facebook, a spokesperson from Warwickshire Police said: “We’ve issued this because we gave Warwickshire Hunt Limited a warning notice in May 2022 about antisocial use of the county road network.

“We continue to see unreasonable and dangerous use of the roads.

“This notice imposed conditions to address this behaviour under the scope of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

“The conditions require Warwickshire Hunt to give us advance notice of events, and details of the times and locations of road crossing points.

“There are also requirements to inform us about who will control dogs during the event, and for the organisation to notify participants about their responsibilities around crossing roads at designated points.

“Breaching the conditions will amount to a criminal offence.

“This is a three-year notice, and the organisation has the right of appeal within 21 days.

“We have issued this notice because we’re committed to keeping the Warwickshire road network safe. We want to prevent criminal behaviour that impacts our communities using our roads safely.

“We encourage anyone who witnesses or is impacted by antisocial use of our roads to contact us so that we can respond.

“Please contact the team by emailing [email protected] or by calling 101.”