IN James Barrington's latest letter replying to my previous one he states that he is "one of four former executive directors of the League Against Cruel Sports who now say that a ban is wrong". Where he gets this information from I have no idea.

The league has been going for 84 years and he is the only former executive director who thinks the ban is wrong.

Of the 150 successful prosecutions taken under the Hunting Act, the five that he refers to relate to hunt masters or hunt servants only. As soon as anyone else involved in the hunt is about to be found guilty (145 in all so far), their hunts disown them instantly, hence the misinformation that Mr Barrington continues to peddle.

I refer to him as being "a well-paid consultant" because that is what he is, irrespective of how much chief executives of various other organisations receive. He is employed by the Countryside Alliance to answer letters, among other things, that appear in regional newspapers like the Carmarthen Journal.

Any Act that is placed on the statute book costs money and it's a bit rich coming from the Countryside Alliance, which supported MPs to filibuster for 700 hours of Parliament's time trying to stop the Act being passed, bringing up the cost of £30 million for the passing of this Act.

Some of the details that justify this law Mr Barrington prefers not to mention: an Ipsos-MORI poll found that 75 per cent of the public support the ban on fox hunting and 85 per cent support the ban on stag hunting and hare hunting. In a democracy we have a government "by all the people and it is a society that ignores hereditary class distinctions". Even if the hunts would like to see cruelty reintroduced, the Act is law and is supported by the vast majority of the population.

Rather than accusing me of "meagre and doubtful details", Mr Barrington, of London, should get his own facts right and go back to his "pay masters" for further instructions regarding the illegal and cruel hunting in West Wales.

David Petersen

St Clears