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Police have confirmed they are investigating allegations of assault and robbery on members of a hunt saboteur group by hunt staff.

In an angry post on their Facebook site Devon County Hunt Saboteurs say they were joined by a member of the South Devon Animal Rights group and two members of Somerset Hunt Saboteur Group to monitor the closing meet of the Modbury Harriers at Brownstone Manor near Holbeton, on March 31.

According to the site the saboteur group stopped hounds chasing a fox which they claimed was being actively hunted and was filmed on camera.

They alleged they were then attacked by a group of six “terriermen” attached to the larger group adding that they grabbed a female saboteur, pulled her to the ground and punched her in the face.

(Image: Devon County Hunt Saboteurs)

The group claim the men then prevented another male saboteur from defending the woman by attacking him.

The Facebook site claims two quad bikes were then used to drive into the man, knocking him to the ground and running over him a number of times.

They are then alleged to have pinned him down before taking a body camera, a two-way radio and a number of other items before leaving the area.

The saboteur group say members of their group suffered “black eyes, leg injuries and cuts and bruises”.

On the main website of the Hunt Saboteurs Association, spokesman Lee Moon, wrote: “We have come to terms with the fact that police forces will generally side with illegal hunters rather than hunt saboteurs but even in this biased world Devon and Cornwall Police are one of the worst.

“They consistently turn a blind eye to illegal hunting and assaults on the saboteurs who try and stop it.”

He added: “We ask that people contact Devon and Cornwall Police and ask what they are doing to locate the six culprits, whose details they have, to recover the evidence of the assaults and the stolen property. Also to ask them what they are doing in general about illegal hunting and hunt violence which goes unpunished week after week.”

Modbury Harriers has refuted the allegations, saying they were “grossly exaggerated”.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed it was: “currently investigating allegations of robbery and assault which happened on Saturday 31 March 2018 between 3pm and 3.45pm in a field in Mayo, Plymouth.”

The spokesman said: “Officers received reports that victims were set upon by six men on quad bikes and also had their radio and camera equipment taken.

“This is currently a live and active investigation.

“We take reports such as these extremely seriously and ask for anyone with information to contact police via 101@dc.police.uk or by 101 quoting CR/027453/18.”