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Britain's rural businesses have reported a remarkable increase in trade, some by up to 40 per cent, since the introduction of the hunting ban three years ago.
Far from sounding the death knell for the countryside economy, the Hunting Act has galvanised trades such as farriers and saddlers.
Some hunting stockists have had their best sales in 50 years.
Experts say an increased sense of solidarity among the rural community and the popularity of drag hunting, which does not involve chasing foxes, is responsible.
Kate Rust, owner of Showing Time, a rural tailor in the Kent village of Bethersden, said it had introduced hunting clothing after the ban due to demand. Sales at the family-run business subsequently rose by more than 40 per cent.
"We were asked to stock hunting clothing after the ban. We were doing jackets for showing and eventing and because we were talking to a lot of people in the hunting community they were asking for hunting clothes," she said.
Ian Compton of Calcutt and Sons, one of England's largest outlets for hunting attire, said that after 50 years of being in the business, it had never sold more hunting equipment.
Trade, Compton said, had increased by up to 15 per cent since the Hunting Act was signed into law. Sales of breeches alone at its outlet near Winchester, Hampshire, had reached more than 300 pairs.
"We are selling more hunting stuff than ever and more people are out in the fields. A lot of people thought that the ban would be our death knell, but we have had a lot more interest, certainly in the clothing side.
"There is a small percentage of people who perhaps did not hunt who have become interested because they want to beat the politics behind the ban.
"There is also the possibility that the ban has raised people's curiosity and drag hunting appeals to them more."
Frank Edwards, who owns Acorn Saddlery in South Molton, north Devon, agreed that fears that the ban would severely damage the north Devon economy had proved unfounded.
"We dreaded the ban and expected the worst, but ironically things have turned out very well," he said.
"Demand for our goods is high and many people are carrying on hunting within the law."
Before the ban his firm held nine accounts with local hunts and not one of them had been forced to close.
"We are very optimistic about the future," added Edwards.
Tim Bonner, spokesman for the Countryside Alliance campaigning group, said many people who forecast that the rural economy would suffer had underestimated its resilience.
"The success of post-ban hunting has surprised a lot of people, but it was not entirely unexpected. Anyone who thought that people were simply going to give up hunting and take up golf got it very wrong," he said.
Bonner added: "The hunting community is enormously resilient, and some might also say bloody stubborn. We are determined to keep the infrastructure of hunting together until the Hunting Act is scrapped."
Last week David Cameron, leader of the Opposition Conservative Party, waded into the debate by promising that a Tory government would give MPs a free vote on reversing the ban. The Tory leader said the current law had been made to look idiotic because of the number of people breaking it.
More than 300,000 people turned out at 314 British hunts on December 26 last year while just three hunts have been convicted of an offence since the ban was introduced.
The Countryside Alliance plans to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.
The 2004 act made hunting with dogs a criminal offence, although exercising hounds, chasing a scent trail and flushing out foxes to be shot are all still legal.
"There is constant difficulty for huntsmen trying to work within a confusing law," Bonner said. But it could have been worse.
- OBSERVER
