SUPPORTERS of fox hunting set off on the last event of the season hoping it was not to be the last ever.

Membership of the South Durham Hunt, in Tony Blair's Sedgefield constituency, has doubled in the last year, making it larger than any of the surrounding hunts.

Its members gathered at the Red Lion pub in Trimdon Village on Saturday ahead of the last of around 40 hunts that have taken place this season. The first hunt also started in Trimdon Village, when members of hunts from across the region protested at proposed legislation which would make hunting illegal.

Master of the hunt Mark Shotton said it could be the last fox hunt of its kind, if new laws are passed.

He said: "We've got a cross-section of people here, everything from the farmer and the blacksmith, to the chap who works in a factory and the council worker who sweeps the road. They all get the enjoyment of being on a horse and riding across country. They don't know what obstacles they're going to face or where the obstacles will be."

Farmer John Littlefair of Hart village, a hunt member for 44 years, said: "There are several ways of getting rid of foxes, you can shoot them or gas them, which is not very pleasant and won't always work."