Woodham Walter Parish Council was handed a petition with some 160 signatures on Monday concerning the impact the hunt has when it takes place in the village.

Now the council is to write to hunt organisers, landowners and the local pub where the hunt gathers to show the concern of villagers.

Chairman Mark Durham said the parish council has no powers to ban the hunt but said: "I am writing to everybody basically to say we have received this petition and there is strong feeling and would they please take that into account in their further dealings.

"The petition refers to the impact the visiting hunt has when it meets in the village. We are a very small village and the roads are very narrow."

Diane Allen who presented the petition to the council said villagers realise hunting cannot be banned from the village but they are concerned it is coming too often and are concerned from a safety aspect when it occurs on public roads.

Mrs Allen is pictured with the petition which was handed over to Woodham Walter Parish Council on Monday.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.