A NEW Year hunting tradition was revived yesterday with the hunters saying it will be carried on for years to come while their opponents claimed the end was near.

For decades, the first hunt of the year was a New Forest Buckhounds meet from the High Corner Inn at Linwood, near Ringwood. But the last of those was in January 1998, with the Buckhounds having disbanded three months later.

Now the New Forest Foxhounds have decided to revive the venue as a New Year hunting venue, although it stuck to its normal Tuesday schedules and met yesterday instead of Monday.

The battle continues to rage at national level with the pro-hunt Country-side Alliance launching a major campaign to stave off a Parliamentary Bill which threatens to outlaw their sport. Hunt members and followers are confident they will be back again next year and for a few years after that. And despite yesterday's mud, rain and chilly winds, around 50 riders and a slightly higher number of followers on foot headed off into the Forest, with a fox being killed in the first hour.

Spokesman Nick Smith commented: "We will be hunting on for many years yet. Hunting is the most natural thing there could be in the New Forest and common sense will prevail in the end."

But Ken James, chairman of the New Forest Animal Protection Group, which had eight anti-hunt campaigners monitoring the proceedings, forecast that there won't be any more new years for the hunts.

He said: "The Parliamentary Bill could bring it all to an end and I don't think we'll be out here this time next year. The morale of the people who go out hunting seems to be at a pretty low ebb as well."

He confirmed that a number of complaints had again been lodged with the Forestry Commission over a variety of things, mainly revolving around control of the hounds.

"We believe there have been two occasions when foxes have been killed by the hounds without the hunt knowing," he said.

Peter White, a long-running anti-hunt campaigner for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, was confident that he would not have a lot more running to do in his efforts to keep up with the hunters.

"We are very confident there will be an overwhelming majority in favour of a total ban," he said.

Meanwhile, the police and the Forestry Commission, who have to referee the proceedings out in the Forest, were cheerfully carrying on with their work.

Five police officers were keeping a watching brief from their four-wheel-drive vehicles at yesterday's meet and Sergeant Ian Smith said: "I am not aware of any major problems this season and the people who object to hunting tend to be following the right guidelines and lodging any complaints about the procedures with the Forestry Commission."

The Commission, which has one and sometimes two keepers on duty depending on whether the meet is likely to cover more than one beat, confirmed that the complaints are still rolling in.

Its New Forest recreation manager Mike Seddon commented: "The complaints have become more detailed as to what is or is not expected of a hunt on Forestry Commission land.

"No doubt when or if licence renewals are dealt with in future they will have areas of clarification added to them."

He is also anticipating a further national review of regulations in the summer if hunting is not banned.

The hunt's conditions have changed in recent years, with a nationwide tightening-up of regulations bringing in strict controls over the digging out of a fox when it has gone to ground.

In the New Forest, the number of hunt followers' vehicles allowed on Forestry Commission land has been pegged back to eight from around 20 in the past.