HUNDREDS of spectators are expected to attend the traditional Boxing day hunt in the New Forest.

The New Forest Hounds (NFH) are meeting at Bolton’s Bench, Lyndhurst, on Tuesday, with up to 60 riders due to move off at 11am or shortly afterwards.

NFH members used stage the annual meet outside the Balmer Lawn Hotel in Lyndhurst Road, Brockenhurst.

But the ever-increasing size of the crowd sparked fears of an accident involving horses and spectators, resulting in the venue being switched to a huge open area opposite Lyndhurst Fire Station.

A large hill at Bolton’s Bench provides spectators with a perfect vantage point.

NFP spokesman Graham Ferris, former chairman of the Commoners’ Defence Association, which represents pony owners in the Forest, forecast that hundreds of spectators would turn out.

It follows a year in which hunting has again found itself at the centre of controversy.

Hunting with dogs was outlawed more than ten years ago but the NFH and many other packs have switched to trail hunting, which involves hounds chasing an artificial scent laid by hunt members on foot.

This year a proposal to ban trail hunting on land owned by the National Trust was narrowly defeated at the charity’s annual meeting.

Last year’s Boxing Day hunts were attended by about 250,000 people across the country.

They coincided with new research carried out by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), which claimed that opposition to repealing the hunting ban was at an all-time high.

A LACS spokesman said: “Boxing Day hunts are portrayed as a glorious pageant taking place in front of a huge number of people who support them, but the truth is very different.

“The fact is 84 per cent of the public do not want foxhunting made legal.”

But the pro-hunt Countryside Alliance voiced its support for the annual spectacle.

A spokesman said: “Christmas wouldn’t be the same without wrapping up in warm, outdoor clothes to cheer as hounds and horses leave the meet.

“Boxing Day meets are always magical.”