HUNTERS know you must be up early to catch your quarry. But Alun Michael, the Rural Affairs Minister who has been warned to stay away from the countryside because of the ban on hunting, out-foxed his pursuers yesterday.

Mr Michael, who has been criticised for dodging pro-hunt protesters by cancelling visits to Dorset, Lancashire and the Peak District in the past few days, arrived early to address the annual conference of the Association of National Park Authorities at an Exeter hotel. He was due to speak at 4pm but arrived just after 2pm — to jeers from the half-dozen protesters early enough to spot him. By 3.30pm around 200 protesters were blowing hunting horns and waving placards from behind barriers opposite the hotel where they had been penned by police.

In an attempt to counter criticism that he was avoiding confrontation, Mr Michael had agreed to a meeting with members of the Countryside Alliance before his address to the conference. But the meeting left neither side satisfied. He told them the hunting ban was now in the hands of the House of Lords and appeared to rule out the possibility of a last-minute compromise.

Mr Michael said: “I always said I am willing to listen to people, particularly if they have strong opinions, but today has not produced a magic formula. I’m not sure a magic formula exists.”

Alison Hawes, the South West regional director of the Countryside Alliance, replied: “You can listen but you don’t necessarily hear.”

At a joint press conference with Mr Michael, Ms Hawes promised that hunt supporters would keep hounding the minister. She said: “We warned ministers and the Government that if there was an outright ban the countryside would erupt in fury and that is what we see happening today.

“The minister made a number of promises to country people that he would base any future legislation on principle and evidence. Mr Michael has broken those promises and we wanted to know why. Why are we now facing a total ban? The minister has let us down.

“We will continue with our peaceful but forceful demonstrations for as long as this Bill is current or becomes law.”

Outside the conference Harriet David, 9, held a placard saying: “I love to hunt”. Her brother Dominic, 6, had one saying: “I want to hunt” and their sister Molly, 3, carried one with: “I will hunt”.

Their mother Nancy Allen said: “We have four horses that will be pretty much redundant. You can’t ride them on the roads all the time and hunting is the best way for the children to learn to ride.”

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