CONTROVERSIAL TV naturalist Chris Packham has been branded “obsessive” after praising proposals to ban trail hunting on National Trust land across the UK.

Hunt supporters have accused the Hampshire-based broadcaster of “jumping on the animal rights bandwagon” after he backed calls to prevent packs from using the charity’s estates.

Trail hunting was introduced by the New Forest Hounds (NFH) and other groups after hunting with dogs was banned more than ten years ago.

The practice, which is entirely legal, involves hounds chasing an artificial scent instead of a fox and has proved hugely popular.

But supporters of the proposed ban, including the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), claim foxes are still being killed in parts of Britain because some hunts are breaking the law.

Mr Packham, 56, said: “Does the National Trust want to be aligned with, or complicit in, illegal activities on its properties?

“Or does it take this opportunity to modernise, refute an obsolete and outdated ‘tradition’ and regain its position as a respected manager of our landscape?”

However, Tim Bonner, chief executive of the pro-hunt Countryside Alliance, hit back at the famously outspoken presenter.

He said: “Chris Packham is completely incapable of passing an animal rights bandwagon without jumping on it. It’s a shame his increasing obsession with activism has clouded any reason or partiality.”

The National Trust owns several commons in the northern half of the Forest but most trail hunting takes place on land owned by the Forestry Commission.

Dr Graham Ferris, joint-master of the NFH, said: “While National Trust land does not represent a huge part of the area we hunt, we have never had a problem in the past and I really do not see a logical reason for the trust to ban legal trail hunting. It would be a pity after centuries of hunting in the north of the Forest for this ban to come into force.”

Calls to outlaw trail hunting on the trust’s 630,000 acres of land across the UK are due to be debated at its annual meeting on October 21. Celebrities backing the proposed ban include Blind Date host Paul O’Grady.

He said: “We all know there’s nothing caring about hunting. National Trust members don’t want to be walking in the countryside and come across a fox or a stag being chased to within an inch of its life.”