FOX hunters’ barbaric practice of training their hounds by hunting fox cubs is on the increase, according to the League Against Cruel Sports today.

The animal welfare charity said new figures “show the shocking scale of fox cub hunting across England and Wales this autumn.”

Dog packs are trained for fox cub hunting between August 1 to October 31 before the main fox hunting season starts in November, despite it being banned for almost 20 years.

The league said figures showed 127 incidents of suspected illegal cub hunting, 106 foxes seen being chased and 315 incidents of hunts wreaking havoc on rural communities.

Figures showed an 83 per cent increase in the number of foxes being chased, a 43 per cent rise in suspected illegal hunting and a 165 per cent jump in hunt havoc in rural communities.

John Petrie, the league’s senior campaigns manager, said: “As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Hunting Act coming into force, these figures evidence why the law needs to be strengthened.

“Setting packs of hounds on fox cubs so they can become accustomed to tearing foxes apart will simply horrify the vast majority of the public.”

Cub hunting “hotspots” were revealed as Gloucestershire, Dorset, Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Warwickshire.

Mr Petrie said: “Tragically fox hunting is going on as it did before the ban and we need the government to act and ensure the fox- hunting season, which has just begun, is the last one we ever experience and that the savage practice of cub hunting is ended for good.”

Data has been collected throughout the cub hunting season from reports into the League’s Animal Crimewatch service and other monitors, the charity said.