THOUSANDS of people from the Salisbury and New Forest areas helped to make history on Sunday.

They joined forces with tens of thousands of other protesters across Britain to take part in the Countryside Alliance march in London.

It became the largest single demonstration ever staged in the UK, with 407,791 people from the countryside travelling to the capital to demand action to save the rural way of life.

A total of 328 coaches were chartered from Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset by local people determined to get their message over.

Hunting horns, whistles, chanting and general chatter filled the streets as the protesters made their point, although the crowd fell quiet as they walked past Whitehall, to illustrate the marchers' strength of feeling.