HAMPSHIRE hunt supporters have made their thoughts clear on the decision which threatens their livelihoods - the battle may be lost but the war is far from over.

Pro-hunting campaigners across the county have vowed to fight the Hunting Bill every step of the way.

Graham Ferris, spokesman for New Forest Hounds, said: "We will be challenging this in the courts so I'm fairly certain we're going to overcome this problem.

"We're angry enough to cause major problems in the next year and a half. We hope to disrupt ministerial meetings and heckle ministers wherever they appear.

"There are legal means of making the life of the MPs who passed this Bill extremely uncomfortable and we shall be using all those means."

He said several legal advisers, including ex-Master of the Rolls Lord Donaldson of Lymington, believe the 1949 Parliament Act could not legally be used to bring in the ban.

Paul Woodhouse, a professional huntsman working at the New Forest Fox Hound Kennels, Lyndhurst, said: "If the ban goes through it means the end of my career. I've been doing this job for 34 years and it provides my accommodation and livelihood. It's going to be hard to find work aged 54. We will fight this all the way."

Victoria Collins, who runs a livery yard near Alresford, vowed to fight on. She said: "All my income comes from hunting. If hunting was banned I would have no income and no house."

Delighted at a hard won battle, Frankie James, spokesman for the New Forest Animal Protection Group, said: "We're delighted there's going to be a ban because we've been fighting for this for a long time."