Hunt objectors demand answers from police as hounds cause road chaos near Brailes

A letter to the force, written by anti-hunt protestor Denise Knight, includes a video, filmed on Saturday by the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs (WMHS), showing ‘traffic chaos’ after three foxes ran across the busy B4035 Banbury to Shipston Road near Brailes.

“Moments later the group filmed Warwickshire Hunt’s hounds running out onto the road in front of oncoming traffic. Vehicles are held up as the hunt’s hounds run backwards and forwards across the road before the hunt and riders finally leave the road,” she wrote.

Mrs Knight said this was the second incident in recent weeks involving Warwickshire Hunt and busy roads, after the WMHS filmed the hunt spilling onto the Fosse Way on September 27.

”This is the same stretch of the B4035 that an ambulance on blue lights was delayed by hunt hounds in February 2019,” she said.

WMHS continue to blame Warwickshire Police claiming a Community Protection Notice (CPN) – instigated to ensure the hunt informed police when their hunts would cross roads - was replaced by a protocol that should prevent these incidents from happening.

Warwickshire Police has declined to publish the terms of the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between it and the hunt.

Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington, wrote recently to Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Phillip Seccombe asking for clarity over the protocol.

He asked why the CPN was dropped, how the protocol was drafted, why it was agreed privately and if it will be made public.

A WMHS spokesperson said: “We’d like to know if Warwickshire Police regard the secret protocol they agreed with Warwickshire Hunt as having the results they’d hoped for after two months.

"From our point of view the situation is worse than before. The hunt is clearly emboldened; they have said as much themselves in relation to the previous incident on the Fosse Way where they claimed that they have every right to be on the roads and that other road users need to be mindful of them as vulnerable road users.

"You're not a vulnerable road user if you persistently put yourself and other people in dangerous situations.

“There is going to be a serious accident if this carries on and that will be down to Warwickshire Police. This antisocial dangerous behaviour is the exact reason they were issued with a CPN in the first place. The fact the new protocol is not legally binding and unenforceable can be seen by the way the Warwickshire Hunt continue to endanger themselves, hounds and road users.”

Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Seccombe said his membership of the Countryside Alliance was not a conflict of interest in cases of alleged illegal hunting. He said he does not have any input in operational decisions.

Mrs Knight said in her letter to Warwickshire Police chief constable: “If this (video) is the ‘lawful activity’ the PCC and Warwickshire Police have recently staunchly and publicly defended, can someone please explain to me how the activity in this video constitutes so-called ‘trail hunting’? Perhaps you could enlighten me as to where you think any kind of trail has been laid.

"The footage clearly shows hounds out of control running across numerous fields and along hedgerows eventually spilling out on to the main road. There is no sign of anyone attempting to control the hounds either in the fields or on the main road. This is in direct breach of the conditions of the secret protocol.

"If there was a trail laid, why did the hunt spend so long on the public highway? If they were following a trail, surely they would have simply crossed the road, with the hounds under control and there would have been some semblance of a field of riders in convoy. This is not what is seen in the footage.”

Mrs Knight asked for the force’s stance on hunting activities outside the main hunting season.

"We were previously given the impression that there would be harder police stance on cub hunting, precisely because it is outside the main hunting season and therefore any claims to be so-called ‘trail hunting’ would be brought into question. Is this not now the case?

“Can the PCC please explain what measures are being taken to ensure road safety measures are being implemented on busy public highways during what are technically organised events by the hunt taking place daily, six days a week currently? Legislation clearly states that if hounds are out of control on a public road, this could be a violation of various statutes including the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Hunting Act 2004.

“We have been given the impression that if more members of the public report the hunt’s activities, it would be more likely that further action would be taken. However, the footage submitted should provide enough evidence for further action to be taken and should not require further corroboration from ‘members of the public’.”

Master of Foxhounds Sam Butler said: “The Warwickshire Hunt apologises to anybody who may have been inconvenienced for a short period of time while we were conducting lawful trail hunting activities in the Brailes area on October 14.

“Trail hunting is an activity which takes place in rural areas where, naturally, various different types of wildlife live. It is not unusual for that wildlife - which may include foxes, deer or birds - to be disturbed while hunts are in the vicinity, similar to how different species can be disturbed by dog walkers or others accessing the countryside at any time.

"Footage of wildlife moving about naturally in the countryside should not be utilised in this way in order to make spurious allegations about our hunt as part of an ongoing and targeted campaign.”

Warwickshire Police has been asked for comment but no reply had been received by the time of publiation.