BLEEDING from the head, professional huntsman Simon Kenney warned Tony Blair to expect much more trouble if the Government goes ahead with its hunting ban.

Mr Kenney, from County Durham, was among thousands of hunt supporters who converged on Westminster yesterday.

Many were visibly shocked as violence marred an otherwise noisy but peaceful demonstration. For others, though, it underlined their determination to preserve a dearly-held way of life.

Police drew batons and exchanged blows with a section of the crowd as tempers flared.

Riot police were called in to bolster lines of uniformed officers as protestors set off fireworks and smoke bombs.

Later bottles, cans, placards and barriers were hurled at police.

"I was up at the front trying to make my point to a policeman, then he just hit me with his baton," said Mr Kenney.

"The police did not give any warning. I was pushed from behind into them and the next thing I knew, I was bleeding.

"I just want to tell Tony Blair that there will be much more trouble like this if they ban hunting."

He was one of several who claimed that they were indiscriminately singled out by police.

Protestors came from across the country and many wore fancy dress or brought placards to make their point.

Many of the banners warned that the ban would be defied with slogans such as "Arm Your Police With Wellies Mr Blair They're Gonna Need Them" and ''Banning Is Easy, Enforcement Is Impossible - That's a Promise.''

Thomas Brown, a 34-year-old steel erector from Leeds, was bleeding from a large cut to the head.

He said it was caused by a police officer who struck him as he walked through the crowd.

Mr Brown, who said he was not throwing anything or causing trouble, added: "I just took the day off work to come here and support the cause, but I never thought it would be like this."

Organisers - who estimated that 20,000 people turned out to demonstrate - called for calm.

But the pleas went unheard beneath the loud whistles and cheers of the crowd who screamed "freedom, freedom".

Simon Hart, the Countryside Alliance's chief executive, said: "That is 20,000 people who believe passionately in the right to a free country - and that outnumbered the 200 or 300 Labour bigots in their Parliament.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is us or them. It is our choice."

Stuart Easby, 55, a vet from Stamford Bridge, near York, rode to London on a bicycle dressed as a fox to protest about the bill.

The father of four said: "I'm here so that I can look my daughters and granddaughters in the face and say 'I have done what I can do to try to explain to people why hunting is the only natural and humane way of managing wildlife population and its welfare'."

Former Grand National winner Marcus Armitage said: "The fight to preserve a way of life has only just begun in earnest. They have upset the wrong minority this time."

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said that protestors had tried to break through a cordon and that officers had come under fire from items thrown by the crowd, including barriers.

But they said it was the action of a small minority and it had been a mainly a peaceful demonstration.

Quin Hough, of Lincolnshire, a first-aider with the Countryside Alliance, said: "The real danger is that Tony Blair may have lit the fuse of a powder keg and for us, I fear, the idiot fringe may have hung on to our coat-tails."

Andrew Vernon, 25, from Ayrshire, Scotland, his head and T-shirt covered in blood, said: "I am not an aggressive person and I don't want to criticise the police because they have a job to do.

"But this is the start of something that is going to get worse. It is the fuse of a big bomb.

''It is pent-up aggression which has been building up and up. There is so much passion in this crowd."