An estimated 4,500 people turned out to support the Lacock Boxing Day Hunt.

Despite the pre-Christmas floods, which damaged a section of wooden fencing around Lacock bridge, and very wet conditions underfoot, the annual Avon Vale Hunt went ahead as scheduled at Lacock.

And police estimates say the crowd figures were well over the 4,000 mark.

This mirrored numbers who turned out across the country for Boxing Day hunt meetings.

Hunts across England and Wales welcomed more than quarter of a million people today, on foot and on horseback, despite nine years of the failed Hunting Act.

Capt Ian Farquhar, joint master of the Duke of Beaufort’s hunt, said they had attracted around 3,000 to the meet at Worcester Lodge, Didmarton.

He added: “Once again we were delighted by the tremendous support from the thousands of people who turned out to show their support for the hounds and horses and to support the farmers who are the backbone of the countryside.

“We met in the hope that common sense will prevail.”

Lacock's hunt certainly drew the crowds but one of the biggest turnouts was at the Heythrop hunt in Oxfordshire, which attracted around 6,000 well-wishers to Chipping Norton Square.