OTIS FERRY, believed to be the mastermind of the stunt, is the country’s youngest master of foxhounds and son of Bryan Ferry, the rock star.

He has described his job with the South Shropshire Hunt, which he has led since May, as “a bit like being a football manager”. He is willing, he says, to go to jail to defend foxhunting.

Mr Ferry was educated at Marlborough and spent his childhood in Kensington mingling with the celebrity friends of his father and mother, Lucy, a former model.

His mother said last night: “I am very proud of him.”

She had not heard from him but had seen the chaotic scenes inside the Commons. Mrs Ferry, who has hunted for more than 30 years, added: “I hope they are giving him something to eat.”

Her son began hunting at the age of 15 and left school at 16 to pursue a career in the sport, joining the Middleton Hunt in Yorkshire as amateur whipper-in.

He was one of the 300 protesters who turned up at Tony Blair’s constituency home with their dogs on Saturday, carrying placards and blowing hunting horns. He was seen clutching a box of eggs but did not use them.

It was not the first time that Mr Ferry had visited the Blair residence at Trimdon Colliery, Co Durham. In August 2002, he was arrested outside the house at 2am with a rucksack containing pro-hunting stickers. He was detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act but released without charge.

He once said: “Background apart, I am a more typical huntsman than I might appear, spending summers waiting for winter, passionately committed to nature and to a way of life that means experiencing nature every day. I believe that the understanding of nature really lies at the heart of the hunting debate.

“Everyone has an instinctive love for nature, but when people don’t experience it directly, they become confused about what it really is.”

He was accompanied into the Commons chamber by the Eton-educated Luke Tomlinson, 27, a close friend of both Prince William and Prince Harry. His parents, Simon and Claire, are long-standing friends of Prince Charles and live near Highgrove.

Mr Tomlinson is a keen polo player and is said to be passionate about blood sports.

David Redvers, 34, a father of one, owns a stud farm near Gloucester and is involved in the Ledbury Hunt, Herefordshire. He is married to Laura, and his mother and grandmother were show judges.

John Holliday, 38, lives in a tied home near the Ledbury Hunt kennels and is a member of the Countryside Action Network. Divorced, with two children, he will probably lose his job, and home, when the hunting ban comes into force.

Robert Thame, 35, a father of two, is a member of the Bicester and Whaddon Chase hunt and a professional polo player.

Henry Bankes-Jones, 25, has trained as a solicitor and worked for the Puckeridge, in its hunt stables.

Andrew Elliot, 42, is an auctioneer at Brightwells, the equine specialists. He is also a father of two, and used to ride with the Ledbury hunt.

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