RURAL Britain took over central London on Sunday in the biggest invasion of its kind ever seen

The Countryside Alliance's Liberty and Livelihood rural rights march was described as the biggest protest of any kind in the UK after at least 400,000 demonstrators converged on the capital.

More than 25,000 people from the North-East and North Yorkshire crammed on to specially chartered trains and buses to take them to the capital.

Banners from Durham, Sedgefield, Middlesbrough and Stockton were prominent amid the seething mass.

Many were there to protest about the proposed ban on hunting with dogs, which they say will lead to thousands of job losses and have a severe knock-on effect on the rural economy. Others were there to register their dissatisfaction on wider rural issues.

Christopher Arthur, 60, of Hallgarth Street, Durham, said: "It was beautifully organised and very cheerful. There was a wonderful cross-section of people and it was a very moving experience.

"There was quite a lot of underlying indignation - these are ordinary decent people who are going to be criminalised."

On the march were several members of the South Durham Hunt, which refers to itself as 'Tony Blair's Hunt.'

Gary Watchman, from Sedgefield, a member of the South Durham Hunt based in Wingate, close to Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency home, said: "It's gone tremendously well and the support has just been overwhelming."

But John Jackson, national chairman of the Countryside Alliance, said: "Anybody who thinks that this is just about hunting must be living on a different planet.

"If the Government makes the mistake of doing something unjust, I have no doubt that the countryside will erupt in fury."

Farmers say prices for produce has plummeted in recent years, while costs have rocketed. There were also protests at rocketing rural house prices, crime, poor public transport, and the loss of local amenities such as schools, pubs and shops.

Mr Jackson delivered a 10-point letter to the Government - headed What The Countryside Needs - with a range of demands from an assessment of supermarket practices, to equality in healthcare and education and the rolling out of broadband internet access into rural areas.

The alliance now plans to look at setting up a rural council on a par with the TUC and CBI representing the 'whole of the countryside.'