The West Country has more fox hunting than any other region in England and Wales, despite the ban according to new figures from the League Against Cruel Sports, which recorded 234 foxes being chased by hunts during the most recent season, more than half the national total of 488.

Devon had 36 incidents making it the fourth highest county in England and Wales.

The figures are released as the Government holds a 12-week consultation to ban trail hunting, the discredited excuse used by hunts as a smokescreen to conceal the chasing and killing of foxes.

Emma Slawinski, League Against Cruel Sports chief executive, said: “These startling figures show that the brutal blood sport of fox hunting is still rife in the West Country, despite the ban, and points to the desperate need for new, stronger fox hunting laws.

“The public in the South West have the chance to have their say and to help end fox hunting once and for all by taking part in the government’s consultation to end trail hunting.”

The ‘hunt havoc’ across the West Country includes reports of trespass; other wildlife such as deer being chased; livestock worrying; hounds running amok on railway lines and also on roads causing road traffic accidents – all activities inconsistent with the idea of following a trail, which is what hunts claim to be doing.

Just 23 or 3.7 per cent of the 624 hunt meets monitored across England and Wales contained evidence of a trail being laid.

Within those 23 reports with a trail laid, there was still evidence of 22 foxes being chased.

Polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports and carried out independently by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 78 per cent of the public in the South West supported stronger fox hunting laws, with only seven per cent disagreeing.

A clear majority of voters in rural as well as urban areas across the country backed new laws to stop foxes being chased by hounds and killed, with 70 per cent of people in the countryside supporting the proposal.

Emma said: “Trail hunting needs to be banned, the loopholes in the law removed, custodial sentences made available to judges to deter would-be hunters, and measures introduced to tackle reckless or ‘accidental’ hunting.”

The Countryside Alliance who opposes a ban on trail hunting.

A spokesperson said: “We believe it would be a disproportionate and unnecessary step that threatens lawful rural activities, jobs and traditions.

“As the government’s own consultation recognises, trail hunting is “an alternative to hunting wild mammals and has grown in popularity following the enactment of the Hunting Act 2004. “If a wild mammal is involved, then it is not trail hunting and any offence is already covered by existing legislation.”