GALLERY: Boxing Day hunt attracts crowd amid vow over legislation
It’s a Christmas tradition dating back hundreds of years – which provokes an annual national debate.
Crowds of people turned out for The Albrighton and Woodland Hunt on Boxing Day at Hagley Hall, near Stourbridge.
The riders now follow trails where hounds sniff out the scent of foxes, since fox hunting was banned in 2004.
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The hunt covers around 1,500 square miles over parts of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire.
The hunt is known as the Albrighton and Woodland Hunt South, and is held at the same time as the Albrighton and Woodland Hunt North, which takes place in Newport, Shropshire.
Another is the Meynell and South Staffordshire hunt, which takes place at Blithfield Hall, Admaston, in Staffordshire.
More than 250 registered events took place across the country, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, according to Countryside Alliance.
Countryside Alliance’s Head of Hunting, Polly Portwin, said: “People put this date in the diary as part of their annual festivities, demonstrating the importance of hunting activities to the rural community.
"The huge crowds showing their support again prove that the future of hunting is secure.”
Hunting still remains controversial, with some groups calling for it to become legalised.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s manifesto for the 2018 General Election included a pledge to give MPs a vote on legalising fox hunting – which was abandoned after it was met with opposition.
The Labour Party announced today it would seek to ‘strengthen’ the Hunting Act if it came into power, pledging to consult on introducing prison sentences for illegal hunting to bring punishments in line with other wildlife crimes.
Ahead of the annual Boxing Day hunts, shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said an incoming Labour government would review penalties under the Hunting Act 2004 to ensure it is an effective deterrent.
It would include a consultation on the introduction of custodial sentences, bringing it in line with the penalties for other wildlife crimes.
Ms Hayman said they would also consider measures to prevent the exploitation of “loopholes” in the legislation, which covers England and Wales.
It could include the introduction of a new “recklessness” clause to prevent trail or drag hunts being used as cover for the illegal hunting of wild mammals.
