About 40 animal rights activists protested against a traditional Boxing Day hunt in Sussex.

Demonstrators gathered in Lewes High Street shouting and waving placards.

More than 200 Countryside Alliance members also turned out to cheer on the 70 horses and riders, with signs that read: "Never underestimate a minority."

Anger on both sides has been stirred by a recent Government Bill that proposes to ban hare coursing and stag hunting but may allow fox hunting if individual hunts can justify it and satisfy a cruelty test.

Sue Baumgardt, who carried a piece of bloodied fake fur nailed to a board, said: "I think hunting is disgusting and cruel. If we had a democracy it would be banned."

James Otway, a pest controller and hunt supporter, said: "People who don't work in the countryside have a romanticised view of foxes as Beatrix Potter creatures. Hunting is a country way of life."