ANIMAL rights activists have claimed they were failed by the legal system because no one involved in a "textbook" breach of the Hunting Act was prosecuted — despite it being caught on camera.

On the eve of the new hunting season, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary has pledged to enforce the act more robustly, the League Against Cruel Sports said, after representatives from the pressure group met officers.

They voiced concerns about the way a piece of video evidence, shot in Devon, was handled.

The recording — due to be made public on Sunday on the video sharing website YouTube — shows huntsmen and a pack of hounds flushing a fox from cover.

The animal eventually runs out from some rocks, and across a field, pursued by dogs.

Steve Taylor, head of communications at the league, said the film, shot by a camouflaged volunteer using a telescopic lens earlier this year, was the best evidence he had seen suggesting a breach of the controversial law which bans hunting with dogs.

It was presented to Devon and Cornwall police by the league's legal team and then sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The CPS lawyers requested more information and for three suspects to be interviewed but then the investigation got delayed.

Only one of the suspects was interviewed and the CPS wrote to police just two days before the case "timed out" saying it did not have enough evidence for a prosecution.

Under the 2004 Hunting Act, prosecutions must be brought within six months of an alleged offence.

The matter focussed attention on the police force, described by one hunt activist as "the most backward in the country at enforcing the Hunting Act".

But the case has been welcomed by hunt supporters, who say it backs up their claim that the law is unenforceable and those tasked with policing it have little enthusiasm for pursuing prosecutions.

Within the last few weeks Steve Harris, a former policeman who now works for the league, its top solicitor, Rachel Newman, and chief executive Douglas Batchelor visited Devon and Cornwall officers to discuss how the force could improve.

Mr Taylor said it was "galling" that no one had been charged with a breach of the act when the league had gone to such efforts to gather the evidence and present it to police.

"If you were to create a textbook breach of the Hunting Act I don't think you could do better than this," he said. "It's absolutely clear what's happening."

But he said he was impressed with the way the force had dealt with criticism, and was confident anyone caught hunting with dogs this season would be dealt with.

"Devon and Cornwall for a long time was lacking with the way it was dealing with the Hunting Act," he added.

"The way in which they are addressing it as an issue for the hunting season is much better."

Details of the debacle were leaked to the Express & Echo as hunts prepare for the new season.

Dozens of huntsmen and women following the East Devon Hunt's trail hunt, which was not the hunt at the centre of the row, are due to gather at Rockbeare Manor today at 11am.

Alison Hawes, South West spokesman for the Countryside Alliance, said she hoped it would be the last year of the Act, on which the Conservatives have promised a free vote if they win power in May.

"This case just underlines what we have always argued," she said.

"Quite frankly the police have much better things to do than chase after hunts in an attempt to see if they are chasing a rat, a rabbit or a fox.

"And the House of Lords' ruling earlier this year means it is now up to the prosecution to establish guilt, which is nigh on impossible."

No one from Devon and Cornwall police was available for comment at the time of going to press.