Passions ran high as about 200 protesters, to the usual cacophony of whistles, horns and drums, disrupted the opening day of hare coursing’s premier event, four days before the hunting ban becomes law.

Over the years the angry eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation on a windswept field at Great Altcar, Lancashire, has come to have a ritualistic, or theatrical, aspect, with solid lines of police ensuring that both sides stay well apart.

This year the Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe promised a big demonstration to express outrage at organisers for bringing the three-day event forward a week to beat Friday’s hunt ban deadline.

It soon became clear that the protesters had come to taunt hare coursers with their legal victory. A large yellow banner read: “The end is nigh — prepare to meet your Waterloo.”

“We won, we won,” shouted one protester. Another screamed: “Bye, bye. Last time, you murdering scumbags.”

Shortly after the marchers were marshalled by police to the edge of the coursing field where the two sides were separated by a fence and a muddy ditch, missiles began to fly.

Hare coursers in tweed and camouflage hurled sods of earth. These were followed by plastic bottles and parts of a hare, including its head and legs. A number waved foxes’ brushes like trophies.

Simon Hart, the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, took up a provocative pose in front of the coursers. “You’ve lost, you inadequate man,” a protester shouted at him through a megaphone. “You and your combat-jacketed losers.”

Several firecrackers fell short, exploding and fizzling out harmlessly.

One woman clad in the all-weather “uniform” of the country-sports fraternity broke free from the police lines trailing a fox’s brush in her wake. To cheers she was arrested, handcuffed and led away.

At one point the confrontation threatened to spiral out of control as field-sports enthusiasts attempted to ambush protesters while they retreated from the field.

Clods of earth rained down on their heads as mounted police moved in to break up the trouble. Later Mr Hart said that he was angry at what he described as disgraceful policing that had allowed protesters too far into their midst.

“It put both protesters and non-protesters in an impossible position,” he added.

Attention rapidly switched back to the field where greyhounds with colourful names such as Rocking Romeo and Neuno Trapper battled for the privilege of being crowned champion dog.

Flankers beat the hare from the undergrowth. The “slipper” gives the animal a head-start before releasing the two dogs. There followed an almost balletic contest as the dogs pitted muscle and determination against the hare’s speed.

Supporters say that the odds are stacked in the hare’s favour. Last year 126 hares were caught by the dogs in all the professional hare-coursing events across Britain.

Charles Goodson-Wickes, a former chairman of the alliance, said that until the 1920s, hare coursing at Within’s field attracted more spectators than the Grand National.

“This is the supreme sporting occasion for coursing and anything this excellent is worth preserving,” he said.

Hare coursers insist that they will not go quietly. Mr Hart said that they had not given up hope of putting on a Waterloo Cup next year in some form. It could mean muzzling the dogs or moving the event to Ireland.

• The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, will give the Court of Appeal judgment tomorrow on the legality of the hunt ban, two days before it is due to come into force. The Countryside Alliance is to await the judges’ decision before deciding whether to apply to delay enforcement of the ban.

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• This year’s favourite, the Irish dog Why You Monty, owned by the Full Monty syndicate, was beaten by Cashels Evening, a bitch from Colorado, owned by Ms Cindi Allen

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