I HAVE written to George Osborne on behalf of members in the hope that good sense and judgement may now prevail.

The repeal of the legislation would further threaten the survival of the inoffensive brown hare, listed in a 2011 zoology report as being one of our iconic native species most at risk of extinction by 2050. Around one third of the dog hunts, 89 in England and Wales, are hare hunts, not fox hunts.

The brown hare population has declined by more than 80 per cent in the last century or so.

Just because an activity was acceptable centuries ago does not mean that it should persist in a more enlightened and less primitive age.

John Rimington Hare Preservation Trust