TWO hundred hunt supporters from Worcestershire and Herefordshire joined around 3,000 others from across the Midlands and South East in an Armistice Day protest in London.

Their demonstration - either side of the wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph - was timed to coincide with a Government cabinet meeting in Downing Street nearby.

However, ministers avoided the picket by entering and departing from No 10 through a rear entrance.

The protest had been arranged with the approval of the Western Front Association, which organised the Cenotaph event, and many of the pro-hunters wore their military decorations.

There was not a riot shield or baton in sight as the Metropolitan Police adopted a much lighter approach and there were none of the violent scenes that marred the mass demonstration in Parliament Square in September.

"Everyone respected the solemnity of the occasion," said Audrey Steel, chairman of Worcestershire Branch of the Countryside Alliance, which organised the protest.

"However, our continuing presence will send a message to the Government showing just how determined we are. This event was confined to hunts from only a part of Britain, yet still many people were prepared to give up their time to be there."

The Hunting Bill is currently in its Report Stage in the House of Lords and returns to the Commons next week.

If agreement cannot be reached between the two houses, there is a possibility the Parliament Act could be used to force a hunting ban through, although the Countryside Alliance has already lined up a series of legal challenges to such a move.

l Read in tomorrow's Evening News of the dentist who would risk his career and even go to prison to fight for the right to hunt.