Home Secretary David Blunkett was last night facing a massive revolt over his threats to jail hunt followers from within the police force.

Officers who hunt are considering resigning from the force rather than arrest fellow supporters who pledge to flout the ban.

One Northumberland officer who has been a PC for all his working life is facing the dilemma of arresting his wife, who has vowed to go to jail rather than give up hunting. Sarah Restall, the wife of Northumbria PC Keith Restall, is one of thousands of North-East countryside campaigners who are planning to hijack the Labour Party's spring conference in Gateshead.

Newcastle detective George Morrison will be forced to stand down as secretary for the Borders Hunt when the ban comes into

place, but the 49-year-old is due to retire from the force in May and is considering his position.

Mr Blunkett yesterday issued a warning to hunt followers, saying there was "no question" that he expected Parliament's ban on their sport to be fully enforced by the police.

But he faces a fierce backlash - with hundreds of hunters, including what is claimed to be dozens of police officers, in the region saying they will ignore the law.

Mrs Restall moved from her Bedfordshire home to Northumberland in 1997 with her 45-year-old husband to continue their passion of hunting and to give children Emma and Jonothan, now 13 and 10, an upbringing in the countryside. They are now part of the Borders hunt, which has eight other police officers as members, and train young hounds to cope with being around farm animals and horses.

But since MPs voted on Thursday to force through a hunting ban, the couple have been agonising over their future, instead of celebrating Keith's 45th birthday on Saturday.

Mrs Restall, 39, who gave up work in a hotel last year to focus on her children and bring up young hounds for the hunt, said: "On February 18 my husband has to stop hunting. And on the 19th he could be arresting me because I vow to continue. The only things we go to are hunt social events, and the only thing we spend our money on is going hunting. We do stuff with the kids and hunt - that's our life. We moved to Northumberland from Bedfordshire to have a better lifestyle for our children. It was Keith's birthday yesterday and we have virtually spent the last three days in tears.

"He has to seriously consider whether he can stay in the police force." She added: "The most cruel thing for us is that the Labour Party conference is in the first week of February. All Keith's leave has been cancelled so he can't go hunting. I will be on one side of the barrier and Keith could be on the other."

Mr Blunkett said yesterday: "Let me make it absolutely clear - there is no question that the law will have to be obeyed and that the law will have to be implemented and therefore the police will take action where and whenever they think it's necessary to do so. If they deliberately say `look we're going to break this law because we don't agree that our democratic parliament should have voted this way', then of course the police have to take action."

Richard Dodd, regional director for the Countryside Alliance, last night said hunting would continue after the ban, and warned the Government that the conference in Gateshead "would be a target".

He said: "It isn't just going to affect policemen who hunt. The local village bobby will find himself alienated in the community - is he going to shop all his pals? People who hunt aren't the toffs and Tories that MPs say they are - coppers are ordinary people."

A Home Office spokesperson last night said: "We would expect any police officer to uphold the law."

The Journal: Today's Voice of the North

Page 2: Hunt ban means retirement will lose its lure for George