Hunt supporters turned out in force for the traditional Boxing Day meets yesterday - amid claims that interest in the sport was bigger than ever, despite the ban.

Hundreds of riders and followers attended meets across the region, as the hunting fraternity continued to defy the lawmakers' efforts to consign their sport to the history books.

Enthusiasts now make do with drag hunting - using the scent of a fox to lay a trail for the hounds - since the Government banned hunting animals with hounds almost two years ago.

Supporters claimed yesterday that Boxing Day crowds were bigger than ever, reflecting a surge of interest in hunting and the determination of supporters to continue the sport within the law. Meets went ahead as the League Against Cruel Sports revealed it was launching a prosecution unit to fight what it sees as flagrant infringements of the Hunting Act by hunting people.

Andrew Gale, master of the Haydon Hunt which met at Fourstones near Hexham, said: "We had an excellent turnout of about 50 horses and I firmly believe that interest in hunting is growing. We are getting fantastic support. It is almost like the countryside coming together in protest over the ban. People are talking more and more about the fight to carry on and trying to get this law overturned."

Richard Dodd, regional director of the Countryside Alliance, attended the Boxing Day meet of the Tynedale Hunt in Corbridge, where the village centre was thronged with riders, followers and spectators.

He said: "There must have been about 1,000 people there today and that shows how much interest and support there still is in the countryside. The hunt is still one of the big social elements in the countryside and runs events for country folk to take part in.

"The legislation was a complete and utter waste of Parliamentary time and was written for completely the wrong reason.

"This was not about animal welfare or hunting foxes, it was about one set of people who hated another set of people, and was driven by jealousy.

"If you ban something on those grounds you will be found out. You can't just take something like the hunt away from people.

"We are continuing to go out hunting, within the law, and we hope that if a Conservative Government gets in they will come up with a sensible solution."

Charles Bucknall, chairman of the Percy Hunt, which met near Alnwick yesterday, said: "We had about 70 riders out today and between 150 and 200 people watching, which was a wonderful turnout.

"I find that quite interesting, because we used to be down to about 50.

"We seem to have more people this year than before and that shows people see the hunt as a good way of getting out into the countryside.

"People who thought the whole thing was going to disappear after the ban were wrong.

"I believe hunting is still very healthy and that many people are very disappointed at the way the legislation was used. They question whether the ban had anything to do with animal welfare."

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Countryside Alliance claims a record turn-out

The Countryside Alliance said yesterday said a "record" national turn-out proved the two-year-old ban on the blood sport was irrelevant, as more than 300,000 people are believed to have taken part in 314 Boxing Day hunts.

Spokeswoman Charlotte Fiander said: "We think we've had a record turnout this year.

"We were expecting a big turnout as there is a lot of support for hunting across the country.

"Everyone is still going out to show their support - this ban just isn't working.

"We are seeing people who have never hunted before going out and that is certainly boosting the numbers. It just shows that this law needs to be changed."

Anti-hunt campaign group the League Against Cruel Sports said it did not object to the Boxing Day hunts if they stayed within the law.

A spokeswoman said: "The League does not have a problem with hunts meeting to either drag or trail hunt on Boxing Day, as long as they do not violate the Hunting Act."

The Journal reported yesterday that the League has created a prosecution unit to step up its attempts to crack down on illegal hunting.

The unit will use civil and criminal law to control the behaviour of any hunters who break the law.

QCs Lord (Peter) Archer, a former Solicitor General, and Anthony Scrivener, former chairman of the Bar Council, are legal advisers to the unit.