NEW research by the Countryside Alliance shows police powers to remove face coverings have only been used against hunt saboteurs once in the past three years – and the majority of forces have never used the power.

Responses to a Freedom of Information request by the Countryside Alliance show that only Derbyshire Police has used the law to unmask hunt saboteurs, while it has been used by 10 other police forces to force political protestors and football supporters to remove face coverings. Now MPs are pushing for the law to be made simpler to use.

There is no information available from Hampshire Constabulary.

Last year, police and crime commissioners and chief constables claimed that they were happy with the law as it stands despite a complicated process which requires written permission from a senior officer before police on the ground can require protestors to remove balaclavas and other face coverings.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “In the past three years there have been a number of cases where hunt staff and supporters have been viciously attacked by animal rights activists wearing balaclavas, but no-one has ever been brought to justice for these crimes.

“Extremists know that wearing face coverings masks their identities and makes prosecution unlikely, and also that it intimidates those who they are protesting against. Yet the powers to remove face coverings have been used more often at football matches than they have at hunts.

“Police and crime commissioners and chief constables have assured us that the powers they have to unmask protestors are sufficient, yet in the entire country we can find just one example of those powers being used to unmask hunt saboteurs in the last three years.

“It is simply ridiculous that police officers at the scene of potentially violent disruption cannot order people to remove face coverings and identify themselves without the written permission of a senior officer.”

He added: “The Government has an opportunity to address this anomaly in the Policing and Crime Bill and we hope that it addresses this blight on so many rural communities.”