On Wednesday December 14th 2022, Warwickshire Police issued a Community Protection Notice (CPN) to the Warwickshire Hunt Limited after repeated anti-social use of public roads in Warwickshire dating back over a number of years. 

The hunt immediately put in an appeal meaning the CPN was unenforceable until the appeal had been heard. This was due to have been heard on the 15th and 17th August 2023 at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

The CPN would have been a sensible and reasonable solution to keep the community safe on the roads and prevent the road chaos caused by the Warwickshire Hunt

However, days before it was due in court, a senior officer from Warwickshire Police intervened on behalf of the hunt and dropped the CPN, replacing it with a watered-down, non-legally binding ‘protocol’ which the Warwickshire Hunt actually wrote themselves and are under no legal obligation to follow.

Despite this issue affecting the wider community and the original CPN being issued to keep the community and road users safe Warwickshire Police are refusing to to publish the contents of this secret agreement they now have with the Warwickshire Hunt. 

We are asking Warwickshire Police to be open and transparent in their dealings with the Warwickshire Hunt and publish the contents of the protocol. How can members of the public have any confidence in Warwickshire Police when dealing with hunting issues if when they make last minute U-Turns to save the hunt from going to court and then make secret deals with them. 

Warwickshire Police have said “We met with the hunt last week to discuss a protocol they had proposed. The force was satisfied this protocol, if adhered to, would meet the goals of the CPN and that there was therefore no requirement for the CPN.”

Members of the public and road users in Warwickshire have a right to know what the police have agreed with the Warwickshire Hunt and only then will we be able to judge ourselves if it meets the goals of the original CPN. Until there is some transparency people will be left assuming that senior officers have done a deal with the hunt to get them off the hook