FOLLOWERS of the hunt claim at least 1,000 people from Cheshire took part in Wednesday's demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament.
Among them was Richard Thomas, joint master of the Cheshire Hunt and chief executive of Chester Racecourse, who says the battle to maintain hunting with hounds is far from over.
Mr Thomas was pleased with the level of support in Parliament Square, with 10,000 people turning out on a weekday.
He said: 'It was great. We have seen the support before and we will see it again. We are just disappointed the House doesn't want to listen and the Bill is going to go though. Whether the Parliament Act works, we will have to wait and see.'
He said the violence seen on TV between police and protesters only involved a minority and had been exaggerated by the media.
Mr Thomas understands why a group of five men stormed the Commons, saying: 'People are frustrated.'
Determined to fight on, he said: 'We have never thought we were at the end of the line. We will continue and the Countryside Alliance is fairly confident of challenging the Parliament Act if it is used and it goes to the Lords. They have tried to ban hunting before and have never managed to do it yet.'
He is not prepared to say whether he would defy the law by hunting even if it was banned, as thousands have pledged to do.
Mr Thomas said: 'Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.'
He stressed that hunting was part of the rural way of life.
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