Time for action

THE public often has to trust that whatever it is told happens actually does, and Simon Wild’s letter (Gazette, January 13) on the policing of the Hunting Act must have shaken public faith.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Jan 2011, 09:59 BST

Imaginary trail laying, hounds released into undergrowth by fox hunts, foxes hunted to ground and terrier men digging them out while uniformed police sit down a rural lane ready to just arrest anyone committing a public order offence – this is not what the public thought was happening.

The public understood that a special trail was always laid across open ground away from fox earths, that foxes were never dug out of earths and that the police knew the Hunting Act and looked for infringements.

Simon Wild has given senior Sussex Police officers instances of offences and has asked the police to start demanding maps of trails beforehand. Surely the police can be proactive enough to take action. This is what I would expect them to do.

Jacqueline Deeks

Wendy Ridge

Rustington

Sussex