HUNT supporters look set to flout the law after the House of Commons was yesterday expected to make hunting illegal, possibly as early as next February.
And it appears that some hunt followers may seek to cause chaos by holding demonstrations which would hit the Government as MPs prepared to enforce their will, as The Chronuicle went to press.
The House of Lords had voted for allowing hunting to continue under a licensed system but this was rejected. At the earliest, the ban will start in February but it could be delayed until 2006.
Tom Fell, regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said: 'I think what you will find is people will find a way whereby they can continue hunting because there will be ambiguity in the wording of the law, so it will be interesting to see if the police are prepared to enforce the law.
'I'm not saying I am about to go out and break the law but I think it's inevitable some people will. More importantly, we will explore every avenue to continue hunting while staying within the law.
'Yesterday we were not law-breakers and tomorrow we would be, just by the stroke of a pen.'
Mr Fell, who hunts, says the Countryside Alliance will mount a legal challenge if the Parliament Act is invoked in defiance of the Lords.
He added: 'Probably some people will take part in civil disobedience but we have not decided what this will be. It won't inconvenience the general public but it would probably inconvenience the administration.'
Mr Fell says the impact of a ban on rural communities will be devastating.
He said it had been estimated that 8,000 full-time jobs would be lost throughout the country, including those who work directly for the hunts and also the farriers who shoe the horses, the companies which supply the saddles and tackle as well as the foodstuff plus medicines for the animals.
'The ramifications are enormous,' he said. 'One of the things this Government espouses is keeping people in the community - working in their community.
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