HUNT supporters across the south are celebrating after an attempt to ban trail hunting on National Trust land was defeated.

A group of trust members backed by the League Against Cruel Sports put forward a motion calling on the charity to turn its estates into hunting-free zones.

But the motion was defeated by fewer than 300 votes at the organisation’s annual meeting in Swindon, Wiltshire, on Saturday.

The decision means 67 hunts that use trust land can continue to do so, including the New Forest Hounds (NFH).

Joint-master Graham Ferris said: “We’re delighted that National Trust members have taken the common sense approach.

“We look forward to trail hunting on trust land later later this season, when details of our new licence have been completed.”

Trail hunting was introduced by the NFH and other groups after hunting with dogs was outlawed 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 the league claims that foxes are still being killed in parts of Britain because some hunts are breaking the law.

Speaking after the meeting Philippa King, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “This is a massive backward step for justice and a shot in the arm for cruelty.“The trust could have played a major role in curtailing illegal hunting in this country, but they chose to ignore 400 pages of evidence.”

But those opposing the motion said hunts were working within the law and claimed the charity was being used as a political football.

A spokesman for the pro-hunt Countryside Alliance added: “Trail hunting complies with the Hunting Act 2004. It does not involve the chasing of live quarry and is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people.

“There has not been a single successful prosecution of any hunt trail hunting on National Trust land.”