A group of militant pro-hunt supporters calling themselves the "Real Countryside Alliance" marked the first day of their campaign yesterday by unveiling a poster of a freed terrorist beside a jailed hunt member.

The group, set up by members of the Countryside Alliance who believe its leaders have been too soft with the government, are planning two months of "aggressive disruption" in which the law may, on occasion, be broken.

Members of the group, who refuse to be identified, believe the issue will be "Blair's poll tax."

Forum Response: Countryside Alliance

John Jackson, chairman of the Countryside Alliance and Richard Burge, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "The Alliance deplores this group's use, both in its name and in its poster, of the symbolism of political violence in Northern Ireland.

"The implications, even if unintentional, that such tactics could ever be legitimate are an affront to the Northern Ireland community who have suffered so much as well as to all the decent law-abiding hunting communities in Britain.

"These tactics are not justified and are an affront to any responsible society which respects the rule of law.

"The misuse by these people of our name is an insult to the vast majority of our own membership, who have repeatedly demonstrated how responsible and peaceable they are in their own campaigning".