The Warwickshire Hunt says it killed no foxes at its protest meet on Saturday, two days after the ban on hunting with hounds came into effect.

And police reported no disturbances at the protest, which Mr Jackson estimates attracted between 3,000 and 4,000 people, including 400 on horses.

But the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance was called out twice, once to deal with a mini-heart attack suffered by a protester and once after a huntsman fell off his horse.

Secretary Simon Jackson said both were recovering. He added: "We were amazed at the level of turnout and particularly encouraged that so many people came along both on foot and on horses to support us."

Mr Jackson said the Warwickshire Hunt had decided not to break the law. Other hunts tested the legislation by flushing foxes with hounds before shooting them, which is not prohibited.

Warwick and Leamington Green Party representative Janet Alty welcomed the ban as the end of hunting unprotected animals.

She said many hunts had foreseen this and changed to drag hunting, and rejected huntspeople's claims that more foxes would die from being shot.

She said: "People forget the hunt is so keen to have foxes they encourage them to breed. They protect them until hunting season. Fox hunting doesn't actually do the job of controlling foxes.

"I knew the ban would happen, it's just been a long time coming. Society does recognise the need to move on and make changes."

Animals at risk from ban

The future for horses and hounds bred and trained to hunt has been made uncertain by the ban, according to members of the Warwickshire Hunt.

Chairman of the Warwickshire Hunt Alan Butler with Mr Tod

Mrs Kavanagh, 54, works as a secretary in Stratford and said she is proof that ordinary people and not just the rich and privileged go hunting.

She said: "We have eight horses at home which we have to go home and exercise, but they have all lost their purpose.

"I have hunted since I was 11. I grew up in Ardens Grafton, just outside Bidford. We hunted there as a family through the 50s and 60s. There was far more freedom to live as country people then. That is what we are. We are farmers. There is no question of prejudice or class distinction."

Mrs Kavanagh had come on foot and was dressed for the cold, but explained why she did not wear a red coat when she rode.

She said: "I wear a black coat hunting because I respect that I am going to a fox's funeral. I don't dress up in fancy dress because I respect the fox and I respect the countryside.

"But to me foxes are not lovable We keep free-range hens so we are victims of foxes. In the bad winter of 1963 they even went for newborn calves."

Master of the Warwickshire Hunt John Pritchard said the hunt's hounds would not be trained to follow a man-made scent. He said: "We are not going to go drag hunting and we are not going to take these hounds doing things they have never been bred for."

He said his horse Percy had been born and bred for hunting and would be put out to grass and eventually put down when he couldn't hunt any more.

He said: "I hunted him as a four-year-old and he is 16 now. He bucked me off as a four-year-old and he broke my ankle. He's a wonderful horse. He's a person. He's part of the family. You can't express the depth of feeling.

"He shies at vehicles on the road, he'll buck and jib. Hunting is the only thing left in life for him."

Saddled with fear of losing business

Southam saddler Tony Freyer is one of the people whose livelihood may be threatened by the ban on hunting with hounds.

Tony Freyer among his stock of riding equipment

Surrounded by saddles, bridles and horse and dog-care products such as Crib-stop and Kof-Eze, he reckons 90 per cent of his business will be affected in some way by the ban.

He said: "All your saddles, all your bridlework and the clothing is bought by people who don't just hunt but ride for leisure, follow hunts and use it in their everyday life.

"The thing is there are going to be more animals killed with the ban than there were when hunting was going on because you have all the hounds which are going to be useless and all the horses which are purely used for hunting.

"People will not allow foxes to run across their ground if they are going to cause mass destruction. If foxes are not going to be hunted they are going to be shot."

Mr Freyer doubts drag hunting will catch on, although some anti-hunt campaigners believe it will bring in more people who did not hunt before because of the cruelty to foxes.

He said: "You don't want 50 horses galloping across your land unless they are doing some good."

And he fears the ban will deliver a death blow to the British saddle industry based not far away in Walsall, and said that manufacturers of hunting whips have already stopped production.

Mr Freyer said tourism would also suffer. He said: "Americans come to the county to hunt, and the Dutch and Germans.

"It is a bigger thing than the government think. Blacksmiths, feed merchants and riding schools will suffer.

"They are taking all the tradition out of the country. It is dividing the country and the town. The horse made this country and yet we are out to destroy them."

'You'll find people with tears in their eyes today'

Thousands gathered in countryside near the site of the civil war battle of Edgehill on Saturday to protest against the hunting ban.

Many walked long distances along lanes and paths after traffic meant they had to walk to the meet at The Park near Upton House.

They came to support the Warwickshire Hunt, to hear speeches from people whose livelihoods would be affected by the ban, and to see the hunt exercise its hounds.

Warwickshire Hunt chairman Alan Butler chatted to crowds on his horse Mr Tod. Mr Butler said: "You'll find people with tears in their eyes today. It is part of something we live for and work for.

"What has really surprised me is people who you would have thought would be uncertain or possibly even unhappy about hunting have come."

Among those speaking was Diane McDougal of the field sports association. She called for protesters to vote out Warwick and Leamington MP James Plaskitt and Kenilworth and Rugby MP Andy King, who voted for the ban.

She said: "We have been put in this position by a majority of the members of the House Of Commons who through their prejudice and their bigotry have railroaded an act through the Houses of Parliament, an act which I regard as an act of treachery."

"For many years I have written these words at the top of your meet cards. 'The Warwickshire Hounds will meet' and I have no intention of stopping writing those words.

"There is only one way of making sure we can get rid of this vile bill and act and that is to remove the people who put it there. These people are more interested in meddling with the lives of people in their communities than saving the interests of those who live in them.

"I am not prepared to see grey men in suits with no roots destroy a community that does not wear suits but by God it has roots.

"I want them to hurt the way we hurt. I want them to taste the salt of our tears and I want them to feel the steel of our swords. I want them to continue seeing those words 'The Warwickshire Hounds will meet.'"

MP confident of election prospects

The hunting community in Warwickshire is mistaken if it thinks it can swing the vote in the next general election.

This was the message from both Warwick and Leamington Labour MP James Plaskitt and Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate Chris White.

Speakers at the Warwickshire Hunt's protest against the 2004 Hunting With Hounds Act called for protesters to mobilise and vote out Mr Plaskitt and Kenilworth and Rugby MP Andy King.

Mr Plaskitt, who has a majority of 5,953 said: "I've heard all this before. They were just as mad with me in 2001 and I doubled my majority.

"The Countryside Alliance is entitled to think they can influence the outcome of the election but they overestimate their influence. I know the electors will make their minds up on a comprehensive range of issues.

"Hunting may be a decisive matter for some but expect the election will hinge on more traditional concerns such as the economy and public services."

Mr White, who was at the protest, said the hunting ban was a distraction, but that James Plaskitt and the Labour party had not taken into account the effect damage to the rural economy would have on the vote.

He said: "The whole issue is a distraction from what we should be talking about. It is a Labour distraction from talking about the issues in which they have failed.

"We should be talking about crime, education, health and most importantly our pensioners. Bringing this up seems to be a distraction from issues that affect everyday people.

"It is a rural issue that the rural community feel strongly about. I don't think they are mistaken. Everybody is entitled to their own view. Everybody thinks they can swing a vote and I am delighted if those people want to support me."