ANTI-BLOOD sports campaigners are calling on voters in Cheshire East to press their local councillors to ban fox hunting on public land.

Hunting with dogs was banned 15 years ago, but the League against Cruel Sports says it has compiled 30 reports of activities relating to suspected illegal fox hunting in Cheshire during the last cub and fox hunting seasons alone.

Many of the reports relate to activity in Cheshire East, which is the first council to be targeted in northern England.

Hunts have been called off due to lockdown restrictions, but the pressure group says it will continue its campaign

Chris Luffingham, director of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "Despite the fox hunting ban, three fox hunts have been operating in the Cheshire countryside, and sadly they are still chasing and brutally killing foxes which their hounds literally tear apart.

"The four-week lockdown will stop their activities for a brief period, but not forever. And with more people using nature as a way to cope with the restrictions, now is the right time to protect wildlife and the natural world."

He added: "We need to deny the hunts the land they need for their cruel blood sport so we're calling on the public to contact their council, especially Cheshire East, and propose councillors take a stand and ban hunting on their land."

The League said hunts often say they are following 'trails' they have laid rather than a fox's scent, but some participants have been accused of killing the animals.

The group said there have been seven reports from Cheshire of fox hunt staff, or the terrier men that accompany them, blocking up badger setts to prevent foxes going underground during the chase, or digging up other badger setts to get to foxes that were hiding there.

"In the months since the Covid-19 outbreak began, many of us have been able to take comfort in getting in touch with nature and enjoyed the respite nature was getting from human interference," added the League's official.

"However, now the hunting season is upon us again, I am concerned about the damage it will do to the environment, people, wildlife and our relationship with nature. It's time to ban hunting on public land."

Responding to allegations of illegal fox hunting from the League last year, a spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance said: "Hunts are regularly subjected to spurious allegations regarding their legal hunting activities, yet packs of hounds within Cheshire operate within the law to comply with the Hunting Act 2004."

The spokesman urged people to be sceptical of figures presented by the League, saying their figures are collected from members of the public and using evidence from social media.

Cheshire East Council stresses the hunting of foxes with dogs is illegal under the Hunting Act 2004.

In a joint statement Cheshire East Council leader Cllr Sam Corcoran and deputy leader Cllr Craig Browne said: "We do not support fox hunting. The council's policy does not permit hunting with hounds and does not permit the promotion of these activities.

"In addition to this, the council retains the related rights on its lands when granting leases.

"There may be some occasions where the council is not able to exercise its control over this matter, due to very long-standing lease arrangements which predate the formation of the council.

"However, in all other circumstances, this means that the exercising of a pack of hounds is not permitted on council land under the council's policy."

"For the time being, however, the council's priority is to save lives and livelihoods as our communities seek to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic."