GMETCALFE (Letters, August 14), is quite right in saying that hunters never eradicate vermin. What they actually do is control the numbers of foxes, hares, rabbits etc to a level that is acceptable to the farmer or landowner and so that the damage they cause is kept to a minimum.

Hunting with dogs is acknowledged as the most selective and humane way of control of pest species and to deny this is to fly in the face of all conclusive evidence.

Mr Metcalfe points out that in the Burns Report the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food stated: "Shooting is the recommended method of control in rural areas."

This comment is misleading, as during their submissions to the Burns inquiry and in debates in Parliament, opponents of hunting stressed their view that fox control was simple -- expert marksmen would ensure that foxes could be humanely and instantly despatched without risk.

This was hotly contested by a number of organisations including gamekeepers who have the greatest expertise in the use of rifles for fox and other pest control.

It was, therefore, ironic that during the dreadful scenes during the foot and mouth crisis, the RSPCA appeared muddled on the issue of rifles.

Foxes, they argued, could be humanely destroyed at a considerable distance, often at night, by the use of rifles. However, when it came to the slaughter of substantially larger, trusting, agricultural animals in daylight, an RSPCA spokesperson said in a radio inverview: "Obviously, our concerns are that animals may not be shot cleanly and humanely if they are being shot from a great distance."

If these 'expert' marksmen cannot kill a cow cleanly at 20 feet in daylight, what chance have they with a fox at 200 yards at night?

A PILKINGTON, Lancashire county chairman, Countryside Alliance.