By Electronic Telegraph Correspondent
THE Waterloo Cup, Britain's leading hare coursing event, was disrupted yesterday when about 200 animal rights campaigners staged an hour-long protest. The activists, some masked and carrying banners, chanted "scum" and "murderers" as 4,000 enthusiasts gathered for the three-day Waterloo Cup held on Lord Leverhulme's estate in Altcar, Lancs. One person was arrested for breach of the peace. During the event a plane flew overhead with a banner reading "Ban hare killing".
Animal rights campaigners protesting against this year's 153rd Waterloo cup
Janet Smart, a spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports, said it was time for people to legally abolish "this abhorrent activity. The brown hare is practically an endangered species. This is the breeding season and many of the hares will be pregnant".
Clarissa Dickson-Wright, half of television's Two Fat Ladies cooking ensemble, was attending the event for her second year. "If you don't approve of something and you want to dissuade someone from doing it you have to offer a reasoned argument," she said. "I have never heard a reasonable argument from these people."
In the contest 48 paired dogs competed for £4,000 prize money, winning points for turning or killing a hare beaten from the long grass.