Members vote to ban trail hunting on National Trust land

National Trust members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning trail hunting on the Trust's land.

A total of 76,816 voters expressed their wish to ban trail hunts on Trust land, with 38,184 against and 18,047 abstentions.

However, the vote, which took place at the Trust's AGM in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, on 30 October, is not binding and its outcome will now be considered.

The National Trust is one of the UK's largest landowners and it owns or is responsible for managing 250,000 ha of land.

Trail hunting is to be banned on National Trust land after a members' vote (Ray Bird / commons.wikimedia.org).

Members who proposed the ban said that "overwhelming evidence leads to the conclusion that trail hunting is a cover for hunting with dogs".

But the Countryside Alliance, which is pro-trail hunting, said in a statement: "Saturday's vote involved a tiny proportion of the Trust's membership and is absolutely no mandate for prohibition of a legal activity. Adopting the motion would totally undermine the Trust's own motto: 'for everyone, for ever'."

Representatives of the League Against Cruel Sports celebrated the decision outside the AGM. Andy Knott, of the organisation, said: "The Hunting Act needs to be strengthened and law-breaking properly punished. Trail hunting is nothing but a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting. We know and have been saying this for years, the National Trust members know it, and now the courts know it too.

"Those who enable the smokescreen of trail hunting to take place should look again and ask themselves whether they want to be complicit in illegal activity.

"It is time for every other landowner, including the Ministry of Defence and Defra to see this activity for what it is and ban the illegal hunting of animals on their property."