HUNTS in North Yorkshire have continued to kill foxes in the second week since the hunting ban came into force - but the Countryside Alliance said they had not broken the law.

A total of 156 hunts registered with the Masters of Foxhounds Association met on 206 occasions and killed 157 foxes in the week ending February 26, the Alliance said.

Throughout Yorkshire 14 hunts killed 15 foxes, said John Haigh, Countryside Alliance regional director.

He said: "Hunts in Yorkshire are carrying on and hunting within the law.

"It's not illegal to wear a red coat, it's not illegal to ride a horse and it's not illegal to kill foxes.

"A total of 14 foxes were killed by 15 hunts in Yorkshire, and a proportion of these will be in North Yorkshire.

"Most hunts in Yorkshire are carrying on to the end of the season, which is early to mid-March.

"It's closed season until September."

The Countryside Alliance said frosty conditions in the east of England had reduced activity, but hunts across the country reported continued strong local support.

Fewer than 20 per cent of hunts were accompanied at any time by anti-hunt saboteurs or "monitors".

Of the 157 foxes, 37 were killed unintentionally, according to the Alliance.

Simon Hart, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: "Hunts are adapting to the new legislation with an absolute determination to maintain their structures and continue to provide a fox management service until the Hunting Act is repealed.

"New legal hunting practices are being developed as the law is tested and explored. The period since February 18 has provided a testing ground for hunts.

"The end of the season for most forms of hunting is imminent. Experience and best practice will be shared throughout the summer so that hunts are well prepared for the start of the new season next autumn."

Animal rights campaigner Annabel Holt, of Dalby, herself a former huntswoman with the Sinnington and Middleton Hunts, believes foxes are "genetic treasures" that should be revered, not killed.

She said: "People who hunt and shoot are traitors of the natural world."

The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt any wild animal with dogs, however it must be proved that hunters have set out with the "intention" of killing a quarry.

The law specifically accepts that some foxes may be killed during exercises while dogs are retrained.

The law allows people to use two dogs to flush out wild animals which are then shot.

Updated: 10:03 Friday, March 04, 2005