FARMERS and landowners fighting a ban on foxhunting are planning a war on electricity installations.

Power companies are to be besieged with requests to remove or relocate installations as part of a new campaign of non-cooperation with the Government, its agents and utility companies.

The aim is to minimise disruption to the public but to wreak havoc for the authorities, to clog government machinery and impose extra bureaucracy on officials. The Countryside Alliance has sanctioned the plan in an attempt to head off an illicit campaign of civil disobedience by hunt extremists that could bring chaos to town and city centres and motorways, and alienate public opinion.

Instead, it believes that landowners should break up agreements with various authorities for free access. It is possible that some landowners will seek to cause maximum confusion by giving notice on each pole or pylon individually.

The plan could backfire, however, and consumers could be landed with higher electricity bills if excessive costs are imposed on power companies.

The non-cooperation could start before the end of the week, when the future of hunting will be decided by Parliament.

The decision to target power installations follows a revolt by many farmers, on Salisbury Plain and in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Wales, who have already banned military training. More farmers have threatened similar bans.

Withdrawal of access will also affect exercises for the RAF mountain rescue team, courses for the Royal Navy outdoor leadership training and SAS escape and evasion. This latest ploy will deeply irritate power companies and the Department of Trade and Industry. Applications to remove or resite pylons and posts are subject to an automatic legal process under the Electricity Act 1989. Power companies would be hit by an avalanche of paperwork and the DTI might have to appoint more engineering inspectors to preside over hearings. At present, only about six take place each year.

In many cases, the power companies might win the right to keep the pylons in place but may be forced to pay out substantial compensation to landowners under the Land Compensation Act 1961. In some cases, disputes would have to be settled by a land tribunal.

About 19,000 landowners in England and Wales receive annual rental payments from power companies — known as a wayleave — on about 65,000 pylons and a further five million poles. Cash payments vary from £8 for a pole to £50 for a pylon, though as much as £500 a year can be paid for a pylon in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has been known for power companies to pay six-figure sums for a pylon within 150 yards of a farmhouse or converted barn.

Derek George, 67, a retired farmer from Llangewydd, near Laleston, Bridgend, in South Wales, has two large pylons and one post on his 75-acre holding. He receives about £40 a year for each pylon and £8 a year for the pole. He said: “I am now prepared to tell National Grid Transco and South Wales Electricity that I no longer want these on my land. Instead I’m going to propose that they should install an underground cable.” Mr George has hunted for 45 years with the Llangeinor hunt and has decided that if a hunting ban were introduced, his only retaliation would be to withdraw goodwill from the authorities.

He said: “I think farmers will be perfectly entitled to make a nuisance of themselves over these installations, especially when you think of the small amounts of cash paid out compared with the £6,000 you can get for a mobile phone mast.”

Richard May, 60, who runs his own Forest and District beagle pack on his 160-acre farm south of Macclesfield, Cheshire, is also ready to ask for the removal of six posts and a pylon. He also thinks landowners can create further impact by refusing access by the authorities to monitor rivers and weirs.

“I am not going to put those dogs down. People in the countryside are law abiding and we hope that reason will prevail in Parliament. But if it doesn’t, I’ll use every trick in the book to bugger up the authorities.”

The Countryside Alliance has identified other areas where the loss of goodwill could affect authorities. For example, if officials from the Environment Agency were denied access, it could affect its work on flood defences, new drainage systems, the monitoring of water quality and the maintenance of sites.

English Nature could be hampered if officials had no access to count various bird and wildlife species in various parts of the country as part of the Government’s international biodiversity agreement. Its research programmes could also be affected. Railway companies may be prevented from access to maintain sections of the railway bank and the Met Office could be denied access to recording stations.

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