A PERMANENT ban on trail hunting on council land looks set to be introduced as a report alleged it was 'possibly' being used to cover up illegal hunting activities.

The practice – which is designed to replicate a traditional fox hunt but with a scent instead of a live animal – was temporarily paused in September while Cheshire West and Chester Council’s ruling cabinet awaited the full findings of an investigation.

Now borough chiefs are being recommended to approve a permanent ban when they meet again on Tuesday, December 7.

In addition to the ban, 18 farmers who currently rent land from the council will also be urged to no longer allow trail hunting on their property. New farm tenants will have clauses inserted into their contracts to state that they will not permit it either.

The council set up a cross-party working group earlier this year to get a better understanding of trail hunting in the borough. It considered evidence from significant landowners, interested groups and other local authorities and carried out a public call for written evidence.

The call for evidence resulted in 933 email responses, with 915 (98 per cent) in favour of the ban and 18 (two per cent) against.

A report to the council said the cross-party working group had identified a risk from trail hunting to both wild and domestic animals and that no alternative reasonably practicable measures have been identified which would reduce the risk.

It added: “The police have provided intelligence which our analyst has reviewed and concluded that it is ‘realistically possible that trail hunting is used as a ‘cover up’ for other illegal hunting practices’.”

Traditional fox hunting with hounds and riders was outlawed in 2005, but the tradition has been kept alive by substituting live foxes with a scent which is followed along a pre-determined route by hounds, as well as hunt participants on foot and horseback.

Although legal, the practice has proven extremely divisive, with a previous report to the council outlining very differing views.

It said the League Against Cruel Sports had provided reports of incidents in Cheshire West and Chester of foxes being chased/killed, hounds being killed on the road, an attack by hounds on a domestic dog, trespassing by the hunt onto private land and worrying sheep.

But The Countryside Alliance told the report authors that trail hunting is legal, supported by many, and is providing direct employment, utilising and supporting local businesses and professional services that contribute to the local economy.