Devon hunt sabs have issued a plea to the public ahead of planned hunts over Christmas and New Years.

The group intervene to prevent hunts in Devon making a kill through the use of hunting horns, voice calls, citronella sprays and cameras.

A spokesperson from Devon County Sabs said: "Every year over Christmas and New Year, we receive reports from local people who witness hounds chasing foxes and other wildlife in the name of sport under the guise of trail-hunting. We witness this first-hand on the hunting meets we are able to attend.

“Trail-hunting was invented after the hunting ban to act as cover and – in the hunting community's own words – a 'smokescreen' for the continued illegal hunting of our wildlife.It is extraordinarily arrogant of the hunts to gather in public spaces each year, believing that the public won't see through their pomposity to the true purpose of their events: to terrorise wildlife.

“We plead with the public to stay away from these gatherings of cruelty, and to report any illegal hunting, antisocial behaviour by hunts, or hunts' breaches of the highway code to the police."

In Devon alone the Devon Hunt Sabs claim that there are 18 fox hunts, four beagle packs, two mink hunts and two stag hunts which operate several times a week during the hunting season which runs from November to April.