AS a teenager living in Watchet in the '60s, I was disgusted and appalled at the sight and sound of red-coated monsters on horseback with snarling hounds terrorising stags and deer at West Quantoxhead.

Now, more than 50 years later, my disgust has not diminished one iota.

Words cannot justly describe how sickened I feel that this barbaric and ancient killing spectacle is still taking place in the 21st Century.

The hunt’s presence on the beautiful Quantocks violates and defiles this moorland wildlife sanctuary.

I despise with a vengeance the despicable hunt members who lack even an ounce of compassion for their hapless quarry.

They care nothing for the terror, fear and pain they inflict on the animals they hunt to exhaustion and summarily execute.

The majority of our population (87%) detest the brutal savagery and callousness exhibited by the hunting fraternity and demand that this disgusting practice should be confined to the annals of history.

NOEL WATSON

Dorset