Letter: Deer hunting

Sir: I was appalled by the actions of farmers in Devon "protecting their crops". It is a fair assumption that deer will always have ventured on to these farmers' land and that until the ban on hunting imposed by the National Trust, the damage done to crops by these animals was tolerated. Now the animals can no longer be the victims of their barbarous play, farmers are viewing them as simply another (windfall) cash crop.

This merely serves to emphasise the moral bankruptcy of hunt supporters and the opportunistic greed of many in our farming community.

STANLEY TYRER

Bury, Lancashire