THE Countryside Alliance claims in recent letters to the press that '....Hunting is fully open and accountable....'

As a hunt monitor working with Protect our Wild Animals, I can tell your readers that hunters and their supporters make it as difficult as possible for us to film the awful reality of hunting.

They try to prevent us from filming anything they do not wish the public to see. Our view is blocked, we have to cope with intimidation and personal insults, accompanied by obscene hand and finger gestures.

We have had our cars damaged, I have been threatened with a knife and we have been spat at and assaulted. All this, in an attempt to stop us collecting the evidence to put before Parliament, the media and to the public so they can indeed make up their own minds.

If hunting is to be open and accountable, I challenge the CA to let hunt monitors attend any hunt and allow us to inspect and film the corpses of foxes.

Allow us on to private property to witness and film 'dig outs' and 'flushing to hounds' and to allow us to film what I consider to be one of the most loathsome practises, euphemistically called 'autumn hunting', but in reality is the savaging of cubs still partially dependent on their mothers.

If your readers would also like to see hunting with dogs made illegal this autumn, they should write to Tony Blair at Downing Street as a matter of urgency within the next months, to ask him to keep his promise to reintroduce the Bill to 'Ban it.'

JUDY GILBERT, Hunt Monitor, Protect Our Wild Animals (POWA), London.