Fox hunt banned after rules broken

A FOX hunt has been banned from the New Forest in Hampshire for a month after hounds were caught digging at a hole where a fox had gone to ground.

The Forestry Commission, the Government agency responsible for woodlands, said an incident had been caught on film last month which breached its regulations. It is only the second time that the Commission has employed such measures.

The hunt's license with the Commission states that hounds and terriers should immediately be called from the entrance of fox earths at the end of a hunt.

John Moore, the hunt's chairman, would not comment yesterday.