The season’s traditional hunts are facing a double blow this year after they were told the Government is to shelve a promised vote on repealing the ban on fox hunting while many of the planned annual meets have been forced to cancel, due to freezing weather.

Many Boxing Day hunts – due to take place today this year instead of yesterday because they do not ride out on Sundays – have been called off across the country as freezing temperatures, snow and ice make conditions too dangerous to ride out.

Those Westcountry hunts which are going ahead today are facing up to reports that David Cameron is not going to hold the promised vote on repealing the ban on fox hunting until 2012 at the earliest as the Conservatives look poised to abandon their pre-election pledge.

Self-confessed “country boy” Cameron, has condemned the 2005 ban on hunting with dogs as a “mistake which intruded into part of rural life where the criminal law shouldn’t go”.

However, on Friday, senior officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admitted the Conservative’s election promise to hold an early free vote on repeal has been dumped.

With major reforms to health, education, and welfare systems being piloted through Parliament, no vote is expected next year.

Jim Paice, the Agriculture Minister, said: “There are many greater priorities facing the Government at the moment.”

It will be bitter news to the 100,000 or so people across the region who were due to attend one of the biggest meets in the hunting calendar today, many of whom are already facing the prospect of a day at home because of snow and ice.

The weather in some parts of the region may prove too hazardous for the horses which could fall and injure themselves on the hard ice, while in other areas, owners could still be snowed in and unable to move their animals.

The South Devon Hunt is among hunts that have been cancelled after snowfall of 20cms in parts.

David Ellis, secretary, based at Longfield, Manaton, Newton Abbot, said: “We’re very disappointed we’ve had to cancel but we’ve no choice. The weather has been too bad. A lot of people have been unable to get their horses out to exercise and we’ve had trouble getting vehicles out. We’ll have lost thousands of pounds but will try to make it up later in the year when the weather lets up.”

Tony Blumenau, joint master of the Four Burrows Hunt that runs from The Lizard Peninsula to Bodmin in Cornwall, said his hunt would go ahead today despite the weather and agreed with Jim Paice’s sentiments.

He said: “With the state the country is in at the moment it’s certainly not a shock the vote has had to be put back.

“The hunting fraternity is a very reasonable section of society and we totally understand there are greater pressures on government time.

“However, we know that at some point the Conservatives will honour their pledge of a vote.”

A minority of MPs – 253 out of 650 – are committed to repealing the Hunting Act, and 22 Conservative MPs are among more than 300 who would vote against repeal, according to the League Against Cruel Sports (Lacs).

Louise Robertson, spokesman for Lacs, said: “There simply is not the political will to overturn the act. It would be crazy to waste valuable government time on this. We’ve polled Conservative MPs and if they vote in the way they have told us then the vote would be lost by 60-70 votes.

“A vote will change nothing because the public does not want it – 76 per cent don’t want fox hunting brought back.”

The Countryside Alliance has produced a poll of more than 1,000 people, carried out by ORB, showing two-thirds of people agreeing that the hunting ban and the time enforcing it was not a good use of police resources.

Countryside Alliance chief executive Alice Barnard said: “The Hunting Act has wasted thousands of hours of police time and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

“When the law is debated and its failure and waste exposed, we are confident that the country and Parliament will support the arguments for getting rid of it.”

Meanwhile hunt leaders in parts of the Westcountry have issued a plea to their colleagues in the rest of the country to keep fighting to overturn the ban, after admitting they “cannot keep going for the long term”.

The South West Branch of the Countryside Alliance has produced a video featuring the Quantock Staghounds, based at Bagborough, near Taunton, calling for supporters across the country to lobby their MPs with cards showing a cartoon Tony Blair in hunting pinks.

It is the only hunt in Britain to be caught by hunt monitors and successfully prosecuted twice for breaking the ban.

Last month, QSH huntsman Richard Down was convicted for a second time of breaching the hunt ban, following a first conviction in 2007.

James Hawthorne, vice-chairman of the Quantock Staghounds, said: “We’re committed to keeping going, but we cannot keep going for the long term under the Hunting Act. We do need repeal desperately.”

Many hunts will be hoping that at least the weather will be kind to them today.

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