Allegations of assault, trespassing and theft have been levelled against anti-hunt protesters in the South Hams.

Jenny Freeman, of Higher Colmer Farm, near California Cross, said she had allowed the hunt the use of her yard to park their horse boxes, but she and her partner Kevin were not hunting on Saturday.

Jenny said friction between hunt supporters and saboteurs had been growing recently. Last month we reported an incident in which a saboteur received a broken nose in a clash near South Pool.

“Kev and I were not even hunting on Saturday, we had given them permission to use our yard as it was handy and off the road.

“Around 4pm, I came home for a hay delivery and I could see the hounds coming back down the road, so I opened the gates to let them in. The next thing I knew there were four or five Land Rovers and around 40 people at the end of my drive, all with masks and balaclavas on.

“I rang Kev, who was shopping, and told him to be careful when he got back.

She added she then called the police 101 non-emergency number. “I was talking to them on the phone when I saw Kev’s truck come down the road,” she said.

Jenny said that as Kevin drove down the road to the house, he was surrounded by the saboteurs yelling at him and kicking the truck. He was taking photos and videos of them with his phone. ?She alleged: “He wound down the window to ask them to move and let him in to his own house and that is when one leant in the window and grabbed him by the arm, almost ripping the arm off his jacket, and another leant in the other side and stole his mobile phone out of his hand.

“I was on the phone to 999 then, and the police then turned up and two officers came through the gate and up the drive, but they didn’t want to know that Kev had just been assaulted and his mobile phone stolen, all they were interested in was the sabs saying someone had smashed the window of their Land Rover.”?Jenny said police wanted to search her house and they were held and questioned over the allegation concerning the broken window on the Land Rover. She said the police lined everyone from the hunt up and checked them against a photo of the person who was alleged to have smashed the window.

“The police weren’t interested in the assault and theft of the phone unless Kev could tell them which one of them it was. How could he tell which one, as they were all dressed in black and wearing balaclavas?”

Jenny claimed the saboteurs were trespassing on her land, as they were parked and standing between the road and their gate.

On the South Devon Animal Rights Facebook page, a spokesman for the protesters said: “We received the normal intimidation and foul-mouthed threats from terriermen.”

The group has also posted pictures they claim relate to the incident.

A spokeswoman said animal rights protesters from other groups joined the saboteurs to show solidarity, following an incident last month when one saboteur allegedlly had his nose broken in an attack by a hunt supporter

She said  there was never any intention of violence but they were there merely to try to ensure none of their supporters were attacked or foxes killed.

 She denied the protesters had gone to Mrs Freeman’s farm to cause trouble but had been asked to wait there by the police while they investigated damage to one of the hunt protesters’ Land Rovers. 

She added: “Most monitors/saboteurs cover their faces as they fear attacks and stalking.”

And she claimed: “Every week we are subjected to violence and aggression from the hunts and hunt followers.”

A Devon and Cornwall Police said the theft of a mobile phone was given a crime number and is being investigated. They said: “Units attended a farm in Modbury on Saturday afternoon with reports of clashes between a group of farmers and an anti-hunt group.

"Allegations of criminal damage including a theft of a phone were made during the incident and are being investigated by local police.”