SUPPORTERS and opponents of fox hunting both claimed success after the new season got underway at the weekend - the first since a ban was introduced in England and Wales. The Countryside Alliance said hunts took place within the law across the country - with thousands taking part.. Anti-hunt campaigners saw "rela-tively few" breaches, but said evidence would be given to the police in some cases. Nearly 70 riders took part in the Flint and Denbigh Hunt meeting on Saturday. Hunt spokesman Rikki Proffit said a further 250 followers joined the hunt on foot. He said: "We still call it a hunt even though we do not do so any more. It was a very successful day. There were 68 riders who started from Plas yn Cefn, St Asaph at 11am and we followed a trail until about 4pm." Similar events were held thoughout North and mid Wales. The Hunting Act, which took effect in February, means that hunting foxes with dogs is illegal, but hounds are allowed to follow a scent and can be used to flush out a fox. A fox can then legally be killed by a bird of prey or shot if only two dogs are involved. Mr Proffit added: "We have the use of an eagle owl but we didn't use it on this occasion." Anti-hunting activists were also out on Saturday monitoring the activities of hunt meetings. League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) spokesman Mike Hobday said: "We are very pleased that there seems to have been relatively little law-breaking today. "However, there are a number of cases where we will be presenting videotape evidence to the police. "The real test of whether hunts are prepared to operate within the law without chasing foxes will be over the weeks to come when the public spotlight is off them." He said there had been reports of hounds chasing foxes until hunts realised they were being filmed. But Countryside Alliance spokes-woman Jill Grieve said: "We would dispute that there has been law-breaking. "We are confident that hunts have been hunting within the law. The feedback we have had has been positive." The claims came as a LACS report claimed that 40% of hunts have broken the new rules. The report said a "significant" number of hunts in England and Wales appeared to have broken the new law since February. Its report estimated that at least 40% of hunts had been the subject of credible allegations of illegal hunting, with 157 different allegations of illegal hunting made against 79 different hunts. But the RSPCA said the Hunting Act was not only working but was vital for the protection of animals. * THE ban on fox hunting is "so bad and so ridiculous" it will eventually be changed, a former Labour minister said yesterday. Kate Hoey, who opposed the ban in the Commons, said: "The reality is the police know this is a law which is totally impossible for them to enforce and the bad law always ends up being changed." Ms Hoey said hunts were "entitled to test the law", which is what they were doing when they took to the countryside this weekend. She said that among current Labour backbenchers she did not "see any appetite to us going back to having another few hundred hours spent in Parliament talking about fox hunting" but added "it will eventually be changed". | 
