Hunt organisers in the North-East last night said they had seen a dramatic upturn in membership - despite the Government ban on hunting with hounds.

Members of hunts across the region said the Government ban has helped them to recruit new members because of the increased publicity, and that children in particular are eager to join in.

Research by the Countryside Alliance shows that more than one-third of hunts in the UK have seen membership rise since the Hunting Act was introduced in 2004.

Its regional director, Richard Dodd, said the North-East has also seen a rise in participants, and accused the Government of not understanding how the countryside works.

While hunting is technically banned, many North-East farmers invite members of the local hunt to control the spiralling fox population. They are allowed to hunt with two hounds, or shoot foxes.

Mr Dodd said: "When the Government bans something, a lot more people say they are not going to have them telling them what to do. Fox control still goes on. In the dark days of when the hunting ban came in, there was an initial tail-off in membership. But the hunts are still there and have found ways around the law.

"Now people are getting involved again, so the Government's ban has achieved very little. I was with the Braes[CORR] of Derwent hunt yesterday and it was full of women and children. It just shows they do not have a clue how the countryside works."

Organisers of some of the North-East's biggest hunts said they were not surprised by the findings. Joint master of the Morpeth Hunt Samantha Ord said: "We have had an increase in membership and it is of all ages, from fairly young children to people in their 70s. There are a lot of new people who have not been involved in the sport before."

Mark Shotton, master of the Northern County Bloodhounds in Durham, said his hunt has swelled by about 50%. "As soon as the ban was announced there was an increase. Everybody rallied round and the increase is continuing."