Hunting supporters have defied opposition from Chris Packham and the local council to go ahead with a centuries-old Boxing Day meet.

Hundreds attended the hunt in Tiverton, Devon, amid Labour's plans to ban trail hunting.

TV presenter Chris Packham branded the hunt 'a horrific spectacle'.

The naturalist added the hunt was 'ethically and morally bankrupt' as he urged Tiverton council to reject it. 

The council last month overwhelmingly voted to back a motion which declared: 'The hunt meet is not welcome in Tiverton on Boxing Day, or any other day.' 

But the Tiverton Foxhounds hunting group, who have met on Boxing Day outside the Half Moon pub in the town square for around 200 years, vowed to continue.

And large crowds attended days after the Government announced plans to ban trail hunting in what has been criticised as part of Sir Keir Starmer's 'war on the countryside'.

Farming communities remain furious with the Government despite a partial U-turn on inheritance tax breaks. 

Hunting supporters have defied opposition from Chris Packham and the local council to go ahead with their centuries-old Boxing Day meet

Hundreds attended the hunt in Tiverton, Devon, amid Labour's plans to ban trail hunting

The Countryside Alliance said the Government had 'alienated rural people', with one poll suggesting 65 per cent of voters believe Labour has unfairly neglected country communities. 

One of the largest hunt meetings takes place on the Duke of Beaufort's estate near Badminton, Gloucestershire.

Will Bryer, the joint master of the Duke of Beaufort Hunt, said the countryside was 'under siege and assault' and that the Government would have a 'fight' on its hands. 

Addressing a crowd at the meet, he said: 'We're under assault, we're under siege, and like all fights it's going to get messy. But we must, we must stand united. Hunting has a future, hunting will endure.' 

Kelvin Thomas, of Tiverton Foxhounds, told Packham to stay out of rural affairs and said he would be returning next year.

Speaking on horseback to crowds, he said: 'He's been very, very vocal about joining the lobby who are not going to welcome us here today. 

'So, despite the fact several of his bosses at the BBC have already jumped over the side, hopefully he won't be too far behind.

'Better if he just left rural issues to us and he got on with his job and the urban Government got on with theirs, we'd all get along, no issue. Apparently we're not welcome and you're not welcome – but nice to see you anyway.'

In last month's council meeting, councillor Tony Wheeler, who proposed the motion, said: 'When we were out asking the public what they wanted us to do if elected, the hunt being unwelcome in our town came up again and again.'