He found a major ally in drag-hunting’s governing body, the Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association (MDBA), which told him “we would be only too pleased to provide as much help and assistance as required to enable you to set up, organise and run a drag hunt”.But others were less supportive: the Verderers Court, a powerful body that was set up in 1877 to protect the interests of commoners who have rights to graze stock on the New Forest, refused to give Thomas permission to drag-hunt on its land The issue split the local community. The hunting community was feeling under threat and the political ramifications of a prestigious hunt closing under pressure from animal-rights campaigners, and then converting to drag-hunting were considerable Thomas’s idea was given a frosty welcome. Drag-hunting would provide all those things, and preserve all these years of tradition, so I immediately proposed that we should start one up.”But this was 1997: New Labour, which had promised to ban hunting with dogs for 18 years in opposition, had just come to power. But the interest for all of us was always the horsemanship, working with hounds and the thrill of the chase, rather than the kill itself. “I believed that hunting live quarry was my right and they shouldn’t be interfering with my business. Whatever the reason, it was a crucial moment in the 1,000-year history of hunting in the Forest.”I thought the antis were a bloody nuisance,” blusters Thomas. I stop at a prearranged point at the top of the hill and wait for the hounds to find me.

Almost immediately they come into view at the bottom of the hill, racing up the track, noses to the ground. The huntsman’s horn, echoing through the trees, urges them on. The dogs are upon me within minutes, excitedly licking the sock and nosing my pockets for dog biscuits; the riders arrive seconds later, their horses sweating in the heat.Unlikely though it sounds, this chewed-up old sock is at the centre of an extraordinary and intriguing controversy that has split the New Forest’s rural community. It has lead to furious public arguments, legal threats and an elaborate plan to kidnap dogs that ended in disaster. Drag-hunting is similar to conventional hunting in many respects, except that hunters and their hounds follow an artificial scent laid by a runner or a pony, rather than chasing live animals such as foxes or deer.

On the face of it, this “cruelty-free” brand appears to offer a neat compromise between animal-welfare campaigners and hunting supporters – but many die-hard hunters simply don’t see it that way.There is one other important distinction, especially for me as today’s quarry: I won’t be mauled by a pack of hungry dogs and then shot, when they eventually track me down. But it’s far too hot for that today, so I’ve been given a considerably shorter leg to cover. At least, that’s what they told me back at the car…This particular hunt, based just outside Hampshire’s New Forest, normally covers about nine miles in a day, usually run in three stages. It’s also an unseasonably hot day, and running up this hill isn’t making me smell any sweeter

I have rarely smelt this bad. My legs and hands are covered in a mixture of vegetable oil, artificial rabbit scent, dog biscuits, canine saliva and a chemical that smells uncannily like chicken tikka masala. Wherever I run, it leaves an invisible trial that, somewhere in the woods below, seven sharp-nosed hounds are following to track me down.It may be distinctly low-tech, but this malodorous sock-on-a-string is at the heart of a country sport that could see a massive surge in popularity if the Government makes good its election promise to ban hunting with hounds. I have rarely smelt this bad.

The latter was found battered to death with a hockey stick at his home in Lisburn.She is known to associate at the prison with two other female inmates who killed their husbands, Julie McGinley, who murdered husband Gerry with the help of her boyfriend, Michael Monaghan, around June 2001, and Karen Murdock, who stabbed her husband, Joe McDonnell, to death.A female officer was suspended last October over alleged links outside the prison to the Loyalist Volunteer Force leader, Billy King, and one of his associates, a notorious drug dealer.. The big philanthropists have traditionally been American: the Gettys, Guggenheims and Rockefellers. Americans give some $240bn (£130bn) to charity annually, more than 2 per cent of national income, with the richest donating a bigger proportion of their income than the poorest. But British philanthropic giving is the opposite; the richest 20 per cent of households give away less than 1 per cent of their incomes, while the poorest fifth donate 3 per cent.Only 2 per cent of British workers work for companies where it is possible to donate money through payroll giving, compared with more than one-third of employees in the US.Philanthropic giving to the arts is also bigger in the US than in Britain. However, a spokesman added: “They (the prison officers) received letters last week that the Prison Service is minded to dismiss them but they have the opportunity to make representations before any final decisions are made.”One prison officer was suspended over a suspected affair with Lesley Gault, 36, nicknamed the “Black Widow”, it was reported last month.The relationship was uncovered after love letters, underwear, stockings and a mobile phone were found in the married senior prison officer’s locker.Gault, who has triplets, was convicted in March 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring with her fireman lover, Gordon Graham, to murder her husband, Paul.