Hunt using bird of prey to kill foxes

The hunt has already been out with a bird called Jess and are waiting for her to make her first kill.

The hunt has not revealed the breed, although other hunts are known to be using Golden Eagles.

Joint master Tom Leeke said: "I am assured she is up to the job. We are within the law to flush quarry towards a bird of prey. Our intention is that she will progress to killing a fox. We are lucky to have a full-time falconer to help us."

Hunt spokesman Don Haden said: "The hounds flush the fox out and the bird of prey kills the fox."

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the law allowed hunting with dogs, providing they are used to flush an animal from cover and that animal is then hunted by a bird of prey.

Under this arrangement, there is no limit to the number of hounds which can be used but they must not do the actual killing.

Huntsman John Holliday said the hunt had been meeting for a month, ahead of the "traditional" November start. Up to four foxes a week are being killed, a typical figure for kills at this time of year, despite the ban on hunting with dogs.

So far, these kills have been the result of a pair of hounds flushing foxes out so they can be shot, a process which is legal.

Mr Holliday said: "Our plans are to carry on as best we can and keep going until the law is changed. You don't get rid of 300 years of history with the stroke of a minister's pen."

The hunt is experimenting with various scents, including dead foxes, to lay trails so that the hounds can keep their noses in.

The hunt has let four or five hounds go to hunts in southern Ireland and is also hunting rabbits, which is not against the law.

Though membership has risen slightly since the ban, Mr Holliday said: "The longer the ban goes on, the more difficult it will be to keep going."

The North Ledbury Hunt has also been meeting for around a month, but the hounds only follow an artificially-laid trail.