LEDBURY Hunt was out and chasing a fox last Saturday.

But before anyone dials 999, it should be pointed out that no hounds were involved.

The meet at Hurst Farm, Welland, was very much a public relations exercise with supporters and the media in mind.

It was an act of defiance at the Government's bill banning fox hunting and gestures like burning the act in a bucket were much appreciated by a crowd of more than 500, along with a big turn-out from both local and national media.

Since four of its members were involved in the 'invasion' of the House of Commons last year, Ledbury Hunt has been thrown into the national spotlight and has learnt very quickly the value of good PR, in what it expects will be a long battle to have the legislation repealed.

The Hunting Act has turned hundreds of ordinary country people into political activists, with joint hunt master Paul Smith urging supporters to join the Countryside Alliance and actively support pro-hunting candidates in marginal constituencies, like Tory Mark Harper in the Forest of Dean.

Mr Smith said Saturday's meeting had shown the hunt was "still here and would stay here".

"It's this spectacle, this is what they wanted to ban, especially the red coats," he told the crowd.

The hounds were taken back to the kennels soon after the hunt set out, in order to avoid any accidents, but the riders carried on to Longdon.

Ironically, they did come across a fox and briefly chased it across one field on horseback, but Saturday was not about chasing foxes.

One rider, Rees Jenkins, the son of a miner, said this was an act of defiance. He admitted the more difficult days would come when hunting returns in the Autumn.

If hunting is to survive, and it costs £100,000 a year to run Ledbury Hunt, then its riding supporters, who provide a third of that income, still need to be given an experience to enjoy.

Mr Smith said that in the last three weeks of the season, the hunt was planning to experiment with laying a scent trail, but would be splitting its hound pack so there was still a strong nucleus of hounds that could hunt normally once the ban was lifted.