Countryside campaigners have hailed the countryside march as a major boost in their bid to save rural Britain.

The Countryside Alliance estimated that around 400,000 people took part in the Liberty and Livelihood march to Westminster.

Some 2,290 coaches and 31 trains were chartered to bring protestors to London from across the UK.

The march set off from Hyde Park Corner and Blackfriars Bridge at 10.00am.

The crowds snaked their way towards Parliament Square where the event ended in the early evening.

But those involved sent out a mixed message about the purpose of the event.

Organisers said that attempts by MPs to ban hunting were only a part of the motivation behind the march.

However a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said that anyone who was against fox hunting was "not welcome".

Conservative MPs made their presence felt. Speaking as he marched towards parliament, Iain Duncan Smith used the opportunity to defend fox hunting and broadened the attack against the government's rural credentials.

"I think this is a statement by those in the countryside and many others in towns and cities about how this government tells people how to live their lives - but is not addressing the major issues and problems they are facing,'' he said.

"The whole spectrum of countryside problems, transport, the closure of hospitals and rural schools and so on. And yet they want to ban hunting and they are prepared to give parliamentary time to that."

Lib Dem rural affairs spokesman Malcolm Bruce also registered his support by marching to Parliament Square.

The chief executive of the alliance, Richard Burge, argued that ministers could no longer ignore rural issues given the scale of the protest.

"We demanded that we be consulted on hunting and we have been, we demanded that the hunting consultation be public and transparent and it has been," he said.

"Our commitment to the future of the countryside has been proved, but this march is about more than the hunting catalyst.

"The government has duties and responsibilities to the rural community as a whole and cannot segregate its inhabitants."

But the event was hit by a row after it was claimed that organisers had counted people not present.

Critics said that 70,000 people who had signed a petition in support of the march were being counted despite not being able to attend.

Police were expected to confirm details of the total numbers present late on Sunday.