AN animal rights campaigner who has waged a ten-year crusade against snares has vowed to continue his fight - despite being attacked by three men in his home.

John Gill, 53, suffered cuts and severe bruising yesterday after being punched, kicked and struck repeatedly with a baseball bat.

He claims he was targeted because of his ongoing destruction of snares set in the countryside.

Speaking from his hospital bed last night, Mr Gill said: "I will not be intimidated. By doing what they have done to me, they have revealed themselves for what they really are."

Unemployed Mr Gill, of Front Street, Castleside, near Consett, County Durham, said he answered his door to three heavily-built men at 9.30am.

He said: "They called out they were from the police, but when they all burst in as I opened the door I knew something was wrong.

"Then I saw a small baseball bat and felt a blow against my head, which sent me sprawling.

"I was punched and kicked and beaten repeatedly about the face and body as I lay on the floor.

"They also hit me again and again on the shins with the bat. It all became a blur and at one stage I thought I was going to die.

"I tried desperately to get to the door, but they dragged me back and continued beating me."

After several minutes the men - who had not said a word throughout the attack - left Mr Gill bloodied in his living room and walked up the road "shoulder-to-shoulder as though nothing had happened", he said.

Mr Gill was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, where he was given stitches to eyebrow and shins and placed under observation.

He said: "I cannot think of anyone who would have done this to me, apart from those who do not agree with my campaign against snares.

"I have been threatened with violence several times by gamekeepers and once had a notorious Newcastle bouncer come to my house and threaten me."

Mr Gill has been prosecuted and convicted a number of times for criminal damage since he began his campaign in 1991 when, he claims, his dog died after being snared.

He has been jailed on four occasions for refusing to pay fines for destroying snares.

He says there is "indisputable and overwhelming evidence" that all snares cause horrific injuries to animals, with sheep, deer, cats, badgers and otters among those caught in traps.

He is waiting to facecharges of aggravated trespass and resisting arrest.

His attackers were all described as about 6ft. Two wore black bomber jackets, one was respectable looking with short black hair and the other large build with cropped hair.

A police spokesman said detectives were trying to trace a grey Suzuki four-wheel drive vehicle seen in the area.

The spokesman said: "The reasons for the attack are not clear at the moment and we are keeping an open mind."