A HUNT protester was injured when he was hit by a horse during a demonstration against a hunt in North Yorkshire.

Police said the man suffered minor injuries in the incident, which happened at Byram Park, near Monk Fryston, Selby, as demonstrators tried to sabotage a joint hunt by the Bramham Moor and Badsworth hunts.

The protester and his colleagues had tried to block the path of 120 horses and riders as they headed across a field.

Peter Rigal, field master for the Bramham Moor Hunt whose horse struck the man, said: "It was a ridiculous sort of event. We were on private land and the protesters had been asked to leave several times. As we approached they walked out into the middle of the field at speed and we had to try and avoid them.

"It was a mess and unfortunately my horse clipped one of them on the shoulder and pulled him down.

"I was relieved when I heard later that he was able to walk out of the ambulance at the other end. Although I think that if a horse weighing 750 kilos is travelling along at 20mph you shouldn't step out in front of it. It's the same as a car.

"It is an event I really wish hadn't happened. Clearly we do not need to be involved in any controversy, particularly at the moment."

An air ambulance was called to scene but the man was not taken to hospital in it.

Police said the he had been able to walk to an ordinary ambulance which had taken him to Pontefract General Infirmary for treatment.

The incident happened at about noon on Saturday.

Updated: 08:33 Monday, March 04, 2002