Note added on December 29: WE HAVE been asked to clarify that the Southdown and Eridge Foxhounds parade in Lewes on Boxing Day 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.

 

ONE person has been arrested after protesters clashed at an annual foxhounds parade.

Anti-hunt protesters who lined the town's high street this morning were met with opposition, as the riders of Southdown and Eridge Foxhounds paraded through.

The annual event sees riders dressed in full hunting regalia ride through the town while protesters demand a stop to the event.

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

One person was arrested in the Old Lewes racecourse area, on suspicion of common assault.

A spokesman from Sussex Police said: "One arrest was made in the Old Lewes racecourse area, of a man on suspicion of common assault, in relation to the Southdown and Eridge Hunt which assembled in Lewes High Street on the morning of Monday, December 27."

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.