A FARMER who regularly flouts the ban on hunting with dogs says Devon and Cornwall Police still refuse to arrest him — even after he told them about his law-breaking.

Giles Bradshaw, 41, from Rose Ash, near South Molton, said the fact that police had not yet arrested him for flushing out deer with dogs — and, crucially, not shooting them — proved the unworkability of the ban on hunting with dogs.

Mr Bradshaw said: “The situation is that I'm breaking the Hunting Act on a regular basis by taking my five dogs out and flushing out deer, which I then refuse to shoot.

“I do this with the full knowledge of Chief Constable Stephen Otter.”

The Hunting Act stipulates that only one or two dogs must be used to flush out deer, and any deer flushed out by dogs must then be shot as soon as possible.

Some anti-ban campaigners say the law is vaguely drafted and like many farmers and landowners in Devon, Mr Bradshaw wants the ban lifted.

He said: “The current situation is everybody knows the law is an ass: I will not obey it, the police will not enforce it and the MPs responsible for the mess will not admit it.”

Mr Bradshaw, a livestock farmer, bought his farm 10 years ago and has flushed out deer at least once a week throughout that time, he said.

Earlier this year, he circulated a letter to MPs about what he claimed were flaws in the Hunting Act.

Among the politicians who replied was the colourful Liberal Democrat for Montgomery- shire, Lembit Opik, who wrote: “If Mr Bradshaw's situation were not so unfortunate, it would be laughable.

“Where did the magic number of two dogs come from? I seriously wonder whether anti-hunting people would have supp- orted the Hunting Act had they seen that it would force farmers to kill animals they would prefer not to.

“The argument this law is for the benefit of wild animals has been demolished and the sooner it is repealed the better for all concerned.”

And the Tory MP for Mid- Worcestershire, Peter Luff, said Mr Bradshaw's situation highlighted an unintended consequence of the law.

Mr Bradshaw has spoken to Chief Constable Otter, who told him the matter was in the hands of a wildlife crime officer.

Barnstaple super- intendent Stuart Lander meanwhile described his own stance on the issue as “simple”. He explained: “We are here to enforce the law. If we get intelligence that it's being broken, we will look into it.”

But he said officers had a large number of laws to enforce and they were duty-bound to prioritise which incidents they investigated.