"As the hunt - with some 50 or so on horse and more than 100 on foot - was leaving Marbury Hall in the direction of Wrenbury, a farmer came up and said he had seen what looked like troublemakers.

"I saw a hunt saboteur wearing a balaclava and brandishing a hunting horn. He shouted 'Just two more weeks', referring to the Wild Mammals (Protection) Private Member's Bill seeking to ban hunting and getting its Second Reading in the Commons on March 3.

"Then he blew the horn in what could only have been a pre-arranged signal. The hounds took no notice but within 30 seconds about 40 saboteurs, most of them in balaclavas and scarves, appeared over a low hill.

'The saboteurs are talking absolute nonsense' "We crossed a ploughed field with some 15 or so of the saboteurs breaking from the main group and coming after us. We were putting distance between us and them across a couple of fields, the hounds ahead of us. We came to the road and found the main body of saboteurs waiting for us at the farm gate, some carrying two-way radios. "They spat, used four-letter swear words and kept shouting 'Two more weeks'. Some of them then got hold of the gates, banging the staves on the wood to try to frighten the horses. One man in his late 30s seemed to be guiding their activity."

He said several members of the hunt were bruised after they dismounted to open the farm gate. As police arrived, they dispersed.

Mr Paul Gammon, spokesman for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, said last night: "We are running a non-violent campaign and my members assure me that on both occasions they were responding to aggressive actions by the hunt stewards and not carrying out unprovoked actions."

Mr Dunning said: "We had no stewards out with the hunt. The saboteurs are talking absolute nonsense."

Cheshire police said 13 hunt protesters were arrested, 11 for criminal damage and suspicion of assault, and were released on police bail. Two others were arrested for breach of the peace and were later released without charge.