BEA Bradley (Letters, September 2) expresses, as she has done before, her opposition to hunting.

But she continues, unfortunately, to ignore the critically important conclusions of the Burns Inquiry.

This was set up by the Government in December 1999, for the particular purpose of providing a very welcome independent and objective report on hunting.

Burns concluded that it was necessary to look at hunting, on a relative, rather than an absolute, basis.

Foxes were regarded as pests and, if hunting were banned, they would be (as reports indicate they now are) killed by other methods, none of which was "without difficulty from an animal welfare perspective."

I have never hunted but have endeavoured to take a fair and rational view of the matter and it seems to me that Ms Bradley's position, as so far explained, is seriously flawed.

Until she has grappled with the Burns Report, in front of Free Press readers, and shown (if she can) how her view may be regarded as consistent with its conclusions, she cannot reasonably expect her comments to be regarded with the value she would wish.

Michael Wilson, Radnag