LARGE crowds of people showed their support for hunting when they turned out to cheer on the Eggesford Hunt at both of its traditional Boxing Day meets.

On Tuesday, December 26 the hunt met at Okehampton and on Thursday, December 28 at the Fox and Hounds Country Hotel, Eggesford.

More than 35 attended the Eggesford meet on horseback, where the riders enjoyed a stirrup cup and refreshments courtesy of the Fox and Hounds Country Hotel.

Master, Jason Marles gave a speech during the meet where he thanked the hosts and also wished all present a Happy New Year.

There were about 100 foot followers at the 11am Eggesford meet, after which the hunt left for trail hunting in the surrounding countryside.

Hundreds of thousands of people were said to have lined the streets and market places of the UK for the Boxing Day meets of the 250 plus registered hunts in the UK, said the Countryside Alliance.

It said the annual spectacle is an opportunity for hunts to thank all those who support them, from the farmers and landowners over whose land they ride, to their subscribers and the public, whose enthusiasm for hunting shows no signs of waning, despite more than a decade of the Hunting Act.

Prime Minister Theresa May, however, will reportedly abandon her Conservative general election manifesto pledge to give MPs a free vote on whether to overturn the fox hunting ban.

According to the "Sunday Times", the Prime Minister will, in early 2018, announce plans to permanently drop the commitment to a House of Commons vote, in a move which is likely to infuriate rural Conservative supporters.

A Downing Street source was reported to have described the report as “pure speculation”, but reiterated the Government’s position: “There is no vote that could change the current policy on fox hunting scheduled in this session of Parliament”, which ends in 2019.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn repeatedly criticised Mrs May for saying she was in favour of fox hunting during the election.

The Tories had pledged in their manifesto to hold a free vote on a Bill in Government time to allow Parliament to decide the future of the Hunting Act 2004.

During a factory visit to Leeds during the election, Mrs May said: “As it happens, personally I have always been in favour of fox hunting, and we maintain our commitment, we have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party, to allow a free vote.”

The omission of a mention about the Hunting free vote from the Queen’s Speech, which outlined the legislative programme for the current parliamentary session of 2017 until 2019, was the first indicator the plan had been put on the back burner.

The law, introduced by Labour in 2004, bans the use of dogs to hunt foxes and other wild mammals in England and Wales.

Alan Quick