A YOUNG hunt saboteur claims she was punched in the face and a horse was ridden at another protester during a rally in Lacock on Boxing Day.

The 29-year-old woman said she was hit while trying to rescue her friend who she believed had been knocked down by a rider at a meet run by the Avon Vale fox hunt.

Despite the attack, which left her with a badly bruised eye, the protester is vowing to continue campaigning for a hunt ban.

She said: "Three hunt supporters had my friend on the ground and they were kicking and hitting him. When I tried to pull him away I was hit in the face.

"It really upset me and ruined my Christmas. It wasn't nice to go into work with a massive bruise on my face.

"I've been a saboteur for two-and-a-half years and I've never had anything happen to me like this before."

The protester, a member of the Pewsey Vale Hunt Saboteurs, said she watched in horror when a horse was ridden at her friend. She claimed he was targeted for spraying a herbal insect repellent along the road in a bid to mask the fox's scent.

"The horse hit him just as it was going into a run. He was very shaken but not badly injured," she said.

"From the very start we go out with peaceful intentions. I haven't been put off in any way by what has happened. We will continue to spray our spray and blow our horns."

Police are investigating the attacks, but Jonathan Seed, master of the Avon Vale fox hunt, said it had all been blown out of proportion.

"There was some friction but it was only a minor incident during a very long day which involved two to three people.

"There were 4,000 people there on the day which puts it into perspective it was very different to problems you sometimes get at a football match.

"This year we had the biggest crowd of supporters we believe we have ever seen, outnumbering protesters 100 to one."

About 75 animal rights campaigners, carrying placards with slogans such as 'out foxed, out voted and outdated', caused disruption.

David Thompson, chairman of the Wiltshire branch of the League Against Cruel Sports, who attended the protest said: "One thing we wanted to get across was the result of a Mori poll in November which showed 76 per cent of the public were against hunting."

Protesters are hoping to keep up the pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair who has vowed to resolve the hunting issue.

In July, the House of Commons voted by a majority of 172 for an outright ban on hunting wild animals with dogs, but the House of Lords delayed the bill in the last parliamentary session which ended on November 20.

Despite MPs' support for a ban, the Countryside Alliance said a new NOP poll showed 98 per cent of those questioned thought there were more important issues for the Government to tackle.