Hampshire's huntsmen are refusing to be intimidated by the ban on their sport in the New Year and are continuing with traditional Boxing Day meets.

The Hampshire Hunt will take place on December 27th, starting at The Fur and Feathers pub, at Herriard, on the A339 road between Basingstoke and Alton. It will be one of several meets taking place around the county.

A spokesman said: "It's hunting as usual. It will be a show of strength and numbers and will be a very high-profile event."

From Friday, February 18th, 2005, the hunting of wild animals with dogs, apart from certain exceptions, will become illegal.

Organisers say the Herriard hunt will be a rallying call to all those in support of the sport and they are expecting it to draw greater crowds than usual.

They also pledged they would continue to exercise their hounds and hunt "within the law" and exploit legal loopholes.

"The message we will be trying to send to the Government is that we are still here and we are not going to go away."

Around 100 enthusiasts are expected to turn up on horses - more than usual - and at least double those numbers to follow the hunt on foot or by bicycle.

"They will see for themselves that hunting people are perfectly normal, law- abiding citizens about to be criminalised," the spokesman added.

"The view is that basically this is a bad law and we are not going to go away and lie down. We will continue hunting, within the law, throughout the hunting ban and will be holding Boxing Day and other meets for many years to come. "There are enough loopholes in the law for us to continue," he added.

He explained that such legal loopholes in the Hunting Act 2004 included that it would still be legitimate to exercise the hounds if there was no intention to catch a fox.

"If we have the intention to exercise the hounds and they happen to find a fox, the advice is that we will not be breaking the law," he said. "To prove guilt, the Crown will have to prove an intent."

Another way of bypassing the new legislation, he suggested, would be to take the dogs out chasing a scent line. If they happened to then chase a fox, there would be no recourse in law. "Hunts, nationally, will be testing the law to see how far we can go," he promised.