I HAVE written to George Osborne 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 80 per cent in the last century or so.

Only in East Anglia is the population currently at a level to avoid the possibility of extinction becoming a reality.

Repeated polls show a public opposition of at least 85 per cent to hare hunting and coursing.

Rather than use wildlife as a source of destructive human entertainment it is a far more intelligent to realise the detrimental effect such an activity has on the ecology of the countryside.

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

John Rimington BSc.

Hare Preservation Trust