Yet another petition to prevent a popular Boxing Day meet fails

Another popular Boxing Day meet, this time in Ledbury, Herefordshire, is set to go ahead despite an anti-hunting petition demanding it stops.

The annual event, which sees horses and hounds meet in the centre of town, draws in hundreds of supporters from across the local area every year, helping local businesses who benefit from the extra trade at this important time of year.

A petition, similar to that seen in Bungay Suffolk some 214 miles away, had circulated online calling for local councillors to prevent the meet from going ahead. Like the failed petition in Bungay, many signatories objecting to the meet in Ledbury, came from outside the local area with some coming from as far away as Canada.

Now, according to the Hereford Times, Ledbury Town Council has confirmed it will not debate whether or not to back the meet again, nor will it ask Herefordshire Council to prevent the road closure to enable it – despite the petitioners seeking this.

Herefordshire County Council, who oversee the county highways repeated their position from last year.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: "Provided our Highways Team are correctly notified of any request for a road closure, the Council does not differentiate between the different types of event that may take place under temporary road closures.

"If event organisers request a closure for a lawful event and there are no operational issues (such as planned highway maintenance works), there are no legal grounds on which the Council can refuse the request."

It is not the first time anti- hunting groups have targeted the Ledbury. Only last year, an organised letter writing campaign by anonymous antis prompted local councillors to discuss the meet's future. Councillors decided to vote for it to go ahead, while both the local hunting community and Countryside Alliance wrote their own letters to the council outlining their support for the meet on behalf of followers and local members.

Polly Portwin, the director of the Countryside Alliance's Campaign for Hunting, said of the petition: "Unsurprisingly, a large number of the signatures against this popular local event are from outside the town and county.

"This is a typical tactic used by animal rights groups to pressure smaller local authorities.

"The Ledbury Hunt Boxing Day meet is incredibly well attended every year by local people and it is right that the county council do not discriminate against any lawful event from taking place on the roads."

A spokesperson from the Ledbury Hunt said: " We are always so pleased to organise our annual Boxing Day Meet in Ledbury and take great pride in receiving huge support from across the local area. We also understand the huge sense of importance it has not just for the identity of our community, but the businesses who appreciate the extra footfall at this important time of year as a result of it going ahead. We are always happy to welcome people locally from every walk of life, whether or not they trail hunt."

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