The City of London has recently granted permission for a hunting club to "manage" the deer population in Epping Forest Buffer lands.

The deer have historically been managed by local keepers professionally and sensitively in a conservative manner. Club hunting for sport or fun is a completely different matter.

As a local authority and land owner and conservators of the people's forest the moral obligation is to not promote such activities or endorse killing animals for sport or leisure.

There have been reported incidents of people witnessing deer being disemboweled and of hunters being off the designated land. People have reported to have seen hunters with obviously visible weapons on display.

We do not approve of any hunting for sport and demand that this contract is reviewed with immediate effect.