Environmental groups fear the ban on foxhunting is being ignored as hunters prepare for the largest event of the year this Boxing Day.

Across the country, 53 foxhunts are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, including two on National Trust land. However, campaigners say there are likely to be more fox, hare and stag hunts that are not listed.

Hunting groups have faced allegations that blood sport has continued under the guise of trail hunting, and charities say there have been dozens of reports of foxes being pursued and killed since November 2018 when the hunting season began.

Chris Pitt, the deputy director of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Wild animals – including foxes, hare and deer – are still being chased to exhaustion across the British countryside before being torn to pieces by packs of trained hunting hounds.

“With over 85% of people opposing all forms of hunting with hounds, there is strong support for British wildlife being given robust protection from those who kill for sport. How can we call ourselves a civilised nation when those who gain entertainment from attacking wildlife continue to go unpunished by the law?”

A growing concern that the ban is being “brazenly flouted” led Labour to announce that it would strengthen the 2004 Hunting Act – much maligned by both hunters and animal rights activists – if elected and remove legal loopholes that make prosecutions hard to achieve.

The Cheshire police commissioner later published a report urging the government to change foxhunting laws after MPs raised concerns over allegations of illegal hunting this year. It followed an incident in Macclesfield in 2017 where a fox was allegedly killed when a hunt spilled on to a residential street.

Convictions have fallen to historical lows. In Cheshire, police have never successfully prosecuted anyone for illegal hunting – and have passed only one file to the Crown Prosecution Service in three years.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anti-hunt protesters among the crowds who turned out to see the Southdown and Eridge Hunt on Boxing Day in Lewes. Photograph: Simon Dack/Alamy Stock Photo

Anti-hunting groups contend that reports of foxes and hares being killed by hounds are often not followed up despite being supported by evidence. A decline in funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit, as well as cuts to local police forces, means hunts can often act with impunity unless they are monitored by members of Hunt Saboteurs, a non-violent direct action group.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Boxing Day is the PR stunt of the hunting world. The reality is that many hunts are gangs of countryside lawbreakers who endlessly flout the hunting ban and, even on this day when the eyes of the world are on them, will still chase and kill wildlife.

“It’s a sign of how the tide of public opinion continues to turn that various hunts are being turned away from their traditional prestigious Boxing Day meets by locals who are sick of their hypocrisy and the chaos they cause.”

A spokesperson for Countryside Alliance said: “Boxing Day will see hundreds of hunts meet, often on village greens and in town squares where large crowds traditionally gather to see them off.

“Boxing Day has long been an opportunity for local communities to show their support for their hunts and many meets will attract crowds of thousands. Hunting has continued despite the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004 and hunts operate under a range of exemptions in the law, and by hunting artificial scents.”

Ahead of the annual Boxing Day hunts, Labour has announced that it would consult on the introduction of custodial sentences for offences under the Hunting Act, potentially bringing the penalties in line with those for other wildlife crimes, if in government.

The shadow Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary Sue Hayman also left open the possibility of a new “recklessness” clause to prevent trail hunting being used as cover for illegal hunting.

“Labour’s 2004 Hunting Act was a key milestone in banning this cruel blood sport, but since then new practices have developed to exploit loopholes in the legislation,” she said.

“While Theresa May proposed scrapping the Hunting Act all together, Labour is today calling time on those who defy the law by announcing several measures that would clampdown on illegal hunting.

“Labour is the true party of animal welfare. These new proposals form part of the next chapter in striving to ensure our laws and regulations on animal welfare are up to date and fit for purpose.”