UK hunts confronted by protesters

Hunters and demonstrators gather at the Bicester and Waddon Chase in Winslow, England.

LONDON, England -- Thousands of riders took part in Britain's traditional Boxing Day fox hunts -- while anti-hunt protesters gathered to demand the government ban the sport.

Some 30 hunts took place on Wednesday. More than 150 riders and 2,000 spectators had been expected at Prince Charles' favourite hunt, the Beaufort Hunt in Badminton, western England.

In Scotland nine hunts set off for what could be the last traditional Boxing Day gatherings north of the border.

Members of the Scottish Parliament are expected to vote in favour of a bill to ban hunting with dogs next year.

Fox hunting was suspended in February because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, but several hunts were granted licenses to resume on December 17.

Anti-hunting groups protested across the country. Such protests have often turned violent in the past, with sabotage and egg-throwing common tactics, but there were no reports of any incidents.

Several hunts decided not to gather in their traditional town-centre meeting places on Wednesday.

"The hunters are running scared," Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, told The Associated Press.

Hunters at Maldon in eastern England said they had decided to meet on private land rather than in town, but said the change was motivated by precautions against foot-and-mouth disease rather than by protesters.

"Meeting in somewhere like a gated field will make it much simpler to ensure than everyone is properly disinfected -- that's the reason for the change," a spokeswoman for the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance told AP.

Hunting is a highly emotive issue in Britain. Opinion polls have consistently indicated that a majority of Britons opposes using dogs to hunt down and kill foxes.

But many rural Britons say city-dwellers do not understand the need to control the fox population, and argue that a ban would eliminate thousands of jobs in the countryside.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party government has long promised to ban hunting with hounds, but legislation has met opposition in the House of Lords.

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was among a group of celebrities who wrote to the government asking for a free vote in the House of Commons on the issue.

"We want to live in a country where it is illegal to inflict pain and suffering by hunting wild animals with dogs -- an activity that we along with most British people believe is cruel, unnecessary, unacceptable and outdated," said the letter, which also was signed by McCartney's daughters Stella and Mary.