A HUNT has vehemently denied claims by animal welfare campaigners that it was in any way involved in the death of two deer near Cirencester on Saturday.

The activists claim the two animals were scared by the Heythrop Hunt which caused them to run onto the A429 Fosse Way near Farmington, where they were hit by a car.

However, the hunt, which met at Sheep Pens near Farmington at 8.30am that morning, insists this was not the case, and that the deer ran onto the road from the opposite side to where its members were at the time.

Two independent activists - Emily Lawrence and Roisin Wood - were monitoring the hunt and say they witnessed what happened.

In a statement, they said: “As we drove up to the A429 we could see the riders and were concerned they were going to be crossing the A road.

“We parked in a large entrance to a farm on the A429 where the hunt would be to our left, where we just passed them.

“As we parked, we witnessed five deer fleeing from the direction of the hunt and running up the side of the field line adjacent to the A429.

“We turned left onto the A429 intending to get into a strategic position to see if the hunt would cross.

“Instead we were confronted with a shocking scene, two deer were lying dead on the road, a car was written off on the side of the road and metal and blood were splattered and strewn up the road.

“The driver and her passengers were clearly in shock and standing on the edge of the road.

“There was no way they could have stopped this from happening, they said it happened very quickly.

“We called 999 and removed the car parts and the deer off the road.”

A spokeswoman for the Heythrop Hunt said: “The Heythrop Hunt are aware of an unfortunate incident that occurred on Saturday, October 10, and would like to express best wishes to those people involved.

“The spurious allegations being made about the involvement of the hunt are, however, completely unfounded.

“The hunt has made its own inquiries and understand the deer emerged onto the road from the opposite side to where the hunt was conducting its activities and therefore the deer were effectively running towards the hunt, not away from them.”