THE last ever legal hunts were going ahead today as countryside campaigners vowed to continue with their 300-year-old tradition.
The Duke of Beaufort's Hunt, which dates back to the 17th Century, and The Bilsdale Hunt, in Ravens- thorpe Manor, Boltby, near Thirsk, will be among Britain's last legal hunting meetings.
Mike Hibbard, chairman of the hunt supporters' club, said: "It's a sad day for the countryside."
Up to half a million supporters of hunting with dogs are expected to defy the ban after the Court of Appeal rejected a challenge that it was invalid.
