Anti-fox hunting campaigners staged a protest in Elham village before the Boxing Day hunt set off.

As many supporters gathered in the Square for their traditional Christmas meet, a group of saboteurs waving banners held a peaceful demonstration.

Members of the East Kent Hunt Saboteurs Association and a number of animal rights campaigners were present.

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Today sports minister Tracey Crouch dismissed the idea of holding a vote in Parliament to repeal the hunting act.

The MP for Chatham and Aylesford said hunting should be "consigned to history" and Parliament has "better things to be concerned with".

The East Kent Hunt with West Street is often confronted by opposition from animal campaigners during the festive meet.

But this year’s protest was expected to have extra bite, coming in the wake of a recent CPS decision not to prosecute six members of the hunt who were charged with various offences under the Hunting Act.

The case was dropped after lawyers decided the evidence available was not strong enough to secure a conviction.

Charges had been brought following the publication of video footage shot by hunt monitors, which appeared to show a fox being caught by hounds and killed.

Hunting wild animals with dogs was outlawed in 2005 by the Hunting Act and replaced by trail hunting, where a scent is laid for the hounds to follow.

The East Kent Hunt Saboteurs Association say the Act should be strengthened to outlaw what huntsmen say is the occasional accidental killing of foxes.

A spokesman said: “Loopholes such as ‘accidentally’ killing foxes must be removed from the Act, and the hideous cruelty of terrier work has to be made illegal.

“The police must take a pro-active stance against this barbaric practice to finally consign fox hunting to history.”

Nick Onslow, of the East Kent Hunt with West Street, described the Boxing Day meet as a “much-loved Christmas tradition”.

“This is the 11th since the Hunting Act 2004 came into force and we are certain that our support will be as strong as ever,” he said.

“There have, for many years, been ‘protesters’ in Elham Square on the day.

“Their numbers have always been a tiny proportion of the crowd, the vast majority of whom are there to enjoy a great tradition and to support the hunt.

“Since the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004 the size of the anti-hunt presence in Elham Square has dwindled and it was never huge.

“Perhaps those who came previously accept that, as we hunt within the law, there is no purpose in protesting.

“To protest against a group of people who provide a wonderful and much-appreciated spectacle and are about to set off in pursuit of trails seems a little odd.

“There are those in the hunting community who would see it as proof that the anti-hunt movement is about a dislike for hunting people rather than what those people do – hunt artificial trails.”