ANIMAL rights activists have posted the names, addresses and phone numbers of several prominent North Yorkshire hunting supporters on the internet.

The hate list includes the names of celebrities from the worlds of TV, music and film, as well as members of the Countryside Alliance and other supporters of angling, shooting and hare-coursing.

Under the headline "Celebrity Bloodsports Scum", the makeshift website calls the high-profile names "twisted perverts and walking advertisements for eugenics".

Posted by a little-known group of activists calling themselves Badgers Unknown, the site links to other websites, which instruct followers to carry out attacks that inflict "economic damage" on those who harm animals.

A previous version of the site is reported to have contained veiled threats and incitement to commit violence.

It read: "These people don't live in fireproof houses. They are not immortal."

The list targets company director Edward Duke, of Stillington, near York. He headed the Countryside Alliance in 1997.

But Mr Duke said he would not be intimidated by "sad people" who were unhappy that they have not got their own way. He said: "It's really sad for them that they have to stoop to these awful things and it just shows what kinds of people we are dealing with."

Former England cricketer Ian Botham, who has a home near Richmond, University of York graduate Harry Enfield, and Bryan Ferry, whose son, Otis, was a whipper-in for the Middleton Hunt, based at Birdsall, near Malton, are also listed. National household names included in the list include the musician Sting, journalist Jeremy Clarkson, actor and musician Roger Daltrey, chef Raymond Blanc and the Right Reverend Peter Price, Bishop of Bath and Wells.

John Haigh, Yorkshire director of the Countryside Alliance, said his group had been monitoring the site.

He said some of the suspects believed to be behind the list were "vicious and dangerous people".

He said members on the list had been warned and the group had already asked one internet server to take the information down. It has been reported that the police have been in contact with some people on the list to warn them of the dangers.

The website claims to target Mr Botham because he is a contributor to the Liberty And Livelihood book on traditional countryside pursuits. He declined to comment today.

Updated: 10:54 Wednesday, March 03, 2004