RACECOURSE boss and huntsman Richard Thomas will not be drawn on whether he is prepared to hunt in defiance of a fox-hunting ban due to take effect from February.

Mr Thomas, who is also chief executive of Chester Race Company, expressed disappointment with the House of Commons decision but is remaining calm.

He is holding out hope that the Countryside Alliance, which is mounting a legal challenge, will find a loophole in the Hunting With Dogs Act.

Asked whether he would continue to hunt, he said: 'That's up to every individual. We will have to take advice and see exactly what it all means. Better brains than ours are looking at it and ensuring every option is explored. We will have to wait and see what the options are really.'

Farrier Doug Thompson, of Great Barrow, a former master with the Vale of Lune Harriers, believes the law is a nonsense.

He told The Chronicle: 'If your children have a dog and it bumps off a rabbit in the park or somewhere, you are hunting with a dog aren't you? If you have a

mouse in your house and it gets attacked but you have a cat and a dog. How do you know if the cat has done it? Are you going to patch up the mouse and have an identity parade?'

He added: 'I'm sure the Countryside Alliance will look at it in the correct manner.'

But Mr Thompson does not believe many people will flout the law if the ban comes to fruition.

'I certainly don't think you are dealing with a lot of people who are lawbreakers,' he said. 'Hunting people are up-standing citizens from all walks of life.'

Mr Thompson shoes horses involved in the hunt and has developed a network of business contacts through the pursuit. He believes a ban will hit him in the pocket.

'It will affect my living,' he said. 'Fortunately, I'm no longer a young man starting my career but I certainly think there will be a knock-on effect.'

Meanwhile, the League Against Cruel Sports has welcomed the 'increasing numbers' of landowners, including the Duke of Westminster, who have announced they will deny hunts access to their land from February 19, when the Bill comes into effect.

Under the Hunting Act, landowners will be liable for prosecution if they allow illegal hunting on their land. The League says landowners are therefore expected to help in implementing the ban, and all Crown and public land is bound to remain within the law.

In addition, many landowners are magistrates and under a particular obligation to obey the law.

Douglas Batchelor, chief executive of League Against Cruel Sports, said: 'It is time for the hunts and landowners to accept that the Hunting Act will come into effect in February 2005. The hunts have had sufficient time to convert to drag-hunting and should not compromise landowners by hunting on their land.'