I was appalled to read of the alleged violence directed against two hunt monitors by a member of the Tedworth Hunt on October 24.

I am a keen walker and have encountered (on several occasions) hunts in Wiltshire (including the Tedworth and Avon Vale) openly breaking the current hunt ban by using a pack of hounds to pursue a fox.

At the end of last year, I was walking near Huish and, about 20 minutes into my walk, I could hear the sound of hunting hounds close by. I then witnessed the hunstman encouraging 15 to 20 hounds to chase a fox that had just broken cover from a small wood on the edge of the field next to me.

A little further down the lane, two hunt supporters on a quad bike suddenly blocked my way. They started shouting at me and were generally very intimidating, saying: “If you take any ******* pictures, we’ll ******* do you and your ******* camera!” They then deliberately drove at me before tearing off across the field. I was completely terrified. These people are nothing more than countryside hooligans, who, it would appear, think they are above the law, openly using violence and intimidation to protect their illegal activities. Are these the kind of people that Mr Cameron really wants to champion?

S Thompson, Pans Lane, Devizes.

We asked the Tedworth Hunt to comment on this letter. Stuart Sharp, joint master of Tedworth Hunt, said he did not believe his hunt was involved. He said: “That is complete slander. I was in the Huish area one month at the end of last year. The hunt employs two people but they ride horses, not quad bikes. “We do hunt strictly within the law, we have police officers out with us and they are perfectly happy with what we do. If there was an incident where a member of the hunt was rude to a member of the public, hunt officials would take the matter very seriously. If the person concerned wants to call me I would be willing to talk and meet with them.”