THE countryside around Warrington was aglow with beacons last night, Thursday, as a curtain raiser to a mass march in London by rural campaigners.

Lord Daresbury lit a beacon near the Daresbury Park hotel and at the other end of town, a bonfire was lit at Croft Riding Centre with a barbeque for 100 people.

The actions were part of a national initiative by the Countryside Alliance to highlight its belief that rural issues are not getting a fair hearing in Whitehall.

The alliance says that up to 200,000 campaigners are expected to join a march in London on Sunday designed to show that the countryside is a united, well-organised organistion that deserves to be listened to.

Among the marchers will be Lord Daresbury, his wife Clare and four children.

Lord Daresbury said: "The message is that people from all walks of life feel quite strongly that the countryside issues are not being handled in a way that people would like."

He said people were worried by attempts to ban hunting because a lot of jobs were involved and the widespread belief that the practice preserves a balance of nature in the countryside.

Lord Daresbury who is master of the Wynstay Hunt, said there were grievances about a wide range of countryside issues such as house building in the Green Belt, a lack of tolerance for all field sports and the future of the village pub.

He claimed that pressure by country dwellers had forced Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott this week to announce changes in the Government's rural policy.

Jennie Daniels from the Croft Riding Centre who is taking part in the London march with seven clients and friends, said her main concern was that people should have a choice as to whether they hunt or not.

Although she understands a lot of people are against fox hunting she thinks it is the most humane way to kill them.

She said: "People who don't live in the countryside never see the devastating effects the fox can have, particularly on hens and calves.

"People are led to believe that foxes are killed by being torn apart by hounds but they are already dead with one swift bite in the neck by a trained dog."

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