A HUNTSMAN has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman at a hunt ball last summer.

John Norrish, 67, and a member of the Tiverton Staghounds, denied the charge during a brief hearing at Exeter Crown Court.

Norrish, of Mouseberry Farm, East Worlington, is accused of raping a woman at the event in the Crediton area on July 2 this year.

Judge Graham Cottle adjourned the case for a trial which has already been fixed for May 14, 2012.

Norrish, who appeared in the dock wearing a tweed jacket and Staghounds tie, was bailed.