Police have responded to a complaint from Borrowdale Parish Council about the perceived lack of action taken by officers to alleged illegal fox hunts reportedly happening repeatedly in the valley.
At the March meeting of the council a member of the public said that a hunt had been witnessed in the valley on March 20 in the vicinity of Seatoller Fell and all the way down to Grange. The police were called and they attended and took statements. But disappointment was once again noted that the police were not acting more forcibly on “repeated illegal action of hunting with dogs within the parish”.
At the January meeting of the council it was noted from the floor that Cumbria police did not appear to want to deal with reports of hunting and no legal action was being taken under the Hunting Act. Also at that meeting concerns were also raised about the lack of action over many years by the National Trust about hunting.
A trust spokesperson said at the January meeting that if staff witnessed hunting on its land, the protocol is to call 999 and not to approach hunt participants on safety grounds.
The spokesperson confirmed that the conservation charity was struggling to get the support of police. They acknowledged that historically the police had been relatively helpful, but this pattern of support was not continuing.
The clerk had written to the then deputy Police Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Cumbria, Mike Johnson, following the March meeting and on Wednesday parish councillors will consider a response from Lisa Hodgson, governance officer for PFCC.
She said: “Your correspondence has been discussed with the constabulary and we have been advised of the ongoing work taking place regarding this matter and understand that a number of investigations remain ongoing.
“The constabulary also sit on the national hunting with hounds working group, which is a national approach to dealing with incidents relating to the hunts.
“All reported incidents relating to hunts are dealt with initially by the command and control room. Reported incidents are also monitored and reviewed by the Rural Crime Team to ensure that the force policy is adhered to, and all relevant information is obtained from the persons making the call and at the scene upon police attendance.
“Training has also been provided to front line officers from each neighbourhood policing team and response shift solely on hunting with hounds.
“The rural crime team would request that ongoing issues are raised directly with them via: ruralcrimeteam@cumbria.police.uk however new reports that are taking place imminently should be raised with 101 to ensure that it is picked up by on duty officers enabling a proportionate response to be provided.
“If you wish to make a formal complaint regarding the police service received, this should be addressed to the Chief Constable’s Professional Standards Department (PSD) who are the appropriate body to deal with such complaints.
“I can forward your correspondence to PSD to be progressed, if you would like for this to happen please respond with your consent for me to do so.”
