A YOUNG man was taken to hospital with a fractured skull when animal rights campaigners clashed with members of the East Sussex and Romney Marsh Hunt.

Seven arrests were made by police during the incident on Tuesday.

Officers were called to farmland near Brede, East Sussex, at about 11.40am following reports of violent clashes.

Police arrested five men and two women on public order offences and they were taken into custody in Hastings.

James Hallett, who was on the hunt, claimed: "There was a group of saboteurs who were supposed to be there to observe that we were hunting within the law, but they were being very aggressive.

"The majority were wearing head scarves or balclavas and were carrying fence posts or wooden bars. They managed to get one of our group on his own and he was badly assaulted."

A man in this 20s was taken to hospital with two fractures to his skull and is in a serious but stable condition.