Letter: Hunt is using trunk roads

Letter: The hunt community appears to be taking to the county's trunk roads in pursuit of its quarry.

I was driving along the A41 south of Tern Hill last Wednesday afternoon, rounded a sharp bend, and was confronted by a large pack of dogs coming towards me in the middle of the road, accompanied by a number of fools on horseback.

I was forced to brake and slow down, and they simply continued past me, exchanging abuse as I berated them forcefully for their outrageous behaviour.

They appeared to be treating this notorious stretch of a busy main road as a viable alternative to making a nuisance of themselves in the countryside proper, and some of their bedraggled "hunt followers" were also parked on the road, thereby ensuring that the danger to other road users was maximised as they flicked "V" signs at me.

I have never been under the illusion that the hunting community had hidden stockpiles of laser intelligence or natural humility, but this latest episode takes stupidity, arrogance and recklessness to award-winning levels.

I phoned Market Drayton police, pointing out that a serious accident could have resulted from this incident, and that a dog owner would probably have been rightly prosecuted if they had allowed their lone pet to wander across a busy trunk road at peak times. After a call back to say that the incident was being investigated, and that they would get back to me, I have heard nothing.

During the ensuing silence, am I allowed to wonder if the hunting sector believes that it might be beyond the reach of laws which other people have to abide by, knowing that its acts of life threatening crassness will be indulged by authority and the establishment?

If so, perhaps we ought to think about banning hunting by statute.

Stewart Perkins

Market Drayton