NOTE added on December 29: WE HAVE been asked to clarify that the Southdown and Eridge Foxhounds parade in Lewes on December 27 was not a fox hunt.
As we reported on the day fox hunting has been illegal in the UK for more than a decade. Protesters and supporters were in attendance outside the White Hart in the town centre for the traditional meet-up. Contrary to initial reports there was not hundreds of protestors at the Southdown and Eridge Foxhounds parade but an estimated 30 to 50. The majority of the crowd will have been watching or supporting.
We are happy to make this clear.

 

THIS is the moment protesters confronted a group taking part in an annual parade.

Every year, the riders of Southdown and Eridge Foxhounds parade through Lewes town centre dressed in full hunting regalia.

The riders state they are only drag hunting – a practice which is still legal.

But saboteurs and protesters state that “barbaric activities” at some hunts still see see pregnant foxes “torn to shreds”.

This morning, anti-hunt protesters lined the town's high street to demonstrate against the brigade that rode through on horseback.

Pictures taken from the scene show the scale of the demonstration, with dozens holding banners and placards.

It is understood that one pro-hunt hunt demonstrator was pushed back by police fearing they may try to grab a banner from the anti-hunt protesters.

Fox hunting has been illegal in the UK for more than a decade.

Drag hunting is a practice which sees riders hunt the scent of an artificially laid material, along with their hounds.

The event takes place annually and riders meet outside the White Hart in the town centre, as is their tradition.

In previous years, clashes between hunters, hunt supporters and animal rights activists have broken out in the street and outside the White Hart pub.