MUCH as I share the hatred of hunt saboteurs for cruel bloodsports, I am just as against them now turning their menacing tactics on anglers as I was against them threatening and hounding the unspeakable fox-hunters in the way they have.

So now that we hear that, in the North West, the anarchic 'sabs' intend to harass anglers into giving up fishing -- declared by them to be just another cruel pastime that needs to be banned -- I would hope that they have fully thought through the implications of their new campaign.

For we are told that they plan to make anglers' lives as difficult as possible in a bid to put them off fishing -- by such means as chatting to them until they get fed up or sitting on the river bank and dangling their legs in the water to scare all the fish away.

But although this may be considerably less confrontational than their clashes with fox-hunters, this time there is a difference that these 'antis' bent on interfering with a lawful and popular pastime would do well to consider before they start -- that of their need to be able to swim first.