MORE than 150 people flocked to a pro-hunting fundraiser at a Teesdale hotel.

Barbara Johnson, co-owner of the Morritt Arms at Greta Bridge, organised the event in just ten days.

And it is on course to bring in between £1,500-£2,000 for the Countryside Alliance.

Ms Johnson and her husband, Peter Phillips, opened up their hotel for the Alliance's "host-a-roast" campaign, which is running throughout October.

They took the idea of small dinner parties with a charge of £10 for the fund and turned into a major event.

Those at last Friday's gathering paid £5 for a meal and then donated at least £10 towards the campaign against the Bill to ban hunting.

The guest speaker was Mark Goff, head of fundraising for the Countryside Alliance.

He said that host a roast was on track to raise £150,000 this year.

"It will help us spread the message of what all this is about and the civil rights which are at stake," he said.

Mr Goff, who lives in Richmond and commutes to work in London, said: "We have to campaign by lawful means to draw attention to the injustice that is threatening to take place."

He said the Bill had been with the House of Lords and 50 peers had argued for an amendment.

"We seem to have a majority with us in the Lords," said Mr Goff, who went on to explain the ramifications of the Government invoking the Parliament Act to get the Bill through.

"Tony Blair is between a rock and a hard place because he can't rein in his back-benchers due to the Iraq war," he said.

Mr Goff said the Alliance was being advised free of charge, with lawyers "queueing up" to help.

"The Parliament Act is seen by some legal figures to be flawed and we could end up with a constitutional crisis. That would be fantastic," he said.

"But it could still infringe human rights and we would take it all the way through to Strasbourg."

Mr Goff predicted exciting times ahead and pledged that hunting would continue.

To loud cheers he said: "Bigots will reap the whirlwind they have sown and they will live to regret it."