SOUTH Wiltshire hunts plan to be out on Saturday, just 24 hours after the ban on hunting with dogs comes into force in England and Wales.

One of the largest turnouts is likely to be the Wilton Hunt meet, at which about 100 horses and several hundred supporters are expected, outside Yews Farm, Odstock.

The South and West Wilts Hunt will be setting off from Fonthill Park, Tisbury, with about 60 horses and more than 100 foot supporters.

Heale House, in the Woodford Valley, near Salisbury, will be the meeting place for the Royal Artillery Hunt, where between 30 and 40 horses and riders plus supporters are expected to attend.

All three hunts are due to meet up at 11am.

In addition, there will be two beagle hunts - one at Collingbourne Ducis and one at Stourton, near Warminster.

Dan Tanner, a local farmer and joint master of the Wilton Hunt, plans to address the meet outside Yews Farm before it moves off across the countryside.

A spokesman for the hunt said: "Members and followers of the hunt have no intention of breaking the law.

"They do intend meeting every Wednesday and Saturday between now and the end of the season in March."

The spokesman said Saturday's meet would be a "protest against an unjust law" and a bid to save jobs and incomes in the countryside.

A police spokesman said Wiltshire police officers would be monitoring all the meets and would be treating them as "operational commitments" in the normal way.