Police forces are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds pursuing a 'witch hunt' against countryside enthusiasts in cases which fall apart in court, campaigners have claimed.
An analysis by the British Hound Sports Association has revealed 15 criminal prosecutions brought against 25 rural workers, farmers and hunt volunteers have collapsed or ended with an acquittal in the last six years.
Many are waiting many months – or even years – on bail for alleged hunting and countryside offences which are eventually withdrawn or fail to proceed to a full trial.
Its analysis shows nine cases were discontinued or withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service before the trial, and three ended with the prosecution offering no evidence when the cases finally came to court.
Two were dismissed by a district judge on a submission of no case to answer and another was found not guilty after trial.
Victims claim they are being targeted at a time when police up and down the country are failing to solve burglaries, rapes and other serious crimes.
Mother-of-three Olivia Forsyth, from Warwickshire, was charged in February for obstructing a highway during a hunt meet – despite the fact that she was preventing a hunt saboteur, who was wanted by police for assaulting a farmer, from driving away.
The 42-year-old was interviewed under caution, had her DNA taken and was bailed, only for the charges to be subsequently dropped at trial.
Mother-of-three Olivia Forsyth (pictured on horseback) was charged in February for obstructing a highway during a hunt meet – despite the fact that she was preventing a hunt saboteur, who was wanted by police for assaulting a farmer, from driving away
Referring to the botched prosecutions, Oliver Hughes, from the British Hound Sports Association, told The Mail on Sunday that six-figure sums of taxpayers' cash were being spent by police forces up and down the country on cases which ultimately failed.
He said: 'These are not hardened criminals. They are hunt staff, farmers, rural workers and community volunteers who have had their names dragged through the mud, been shamed in the newspapers and had their lives put on hold, sometimes for years—only for the cases against them to be dropped without explanation.
'If this were about race or gender, we would rightly expect somebody in the CPS to be asking what is going wrong and whether the police were unfairly pursuing these people.
'Why should concerns about people being targeted because of their involvement in trail hunting be treated any differently? It seems that when it comes to rural communities, they're considered fair game.'
Mrs Forsyth, who owns a horse livery business, was arrested following an 'intimidating' incident at a children's hunt in Warwickshire where she was confronted by masked hunt saboteurs.
A farmer was assaulted by one of the saboteurs, who subsequently fled. But when she discovered the man inside a car, she stood in front of it and called the police.
'I told the police we'd been told to ring in if we found the person who had assaulted the farmer. And that is what I did,' Mrs Forsyth said.
'I just stood very calmly in front of the vehicle with my horse. 'This person had also assaulted our chairman and his horse on the Saturday before.'
But five months later, to her great shock, a policeman visited her home and left a letter warning her she would be interviewed under caution after the saboteurs allegedly reported her for obstructing the highway.
She was forced to attend a 'terrifying' two-hour police interview, which included having her fingerprints taken and her mouth swabbed for DNA.
Mrs Forsyth (pictured here with two of her children), 42, was interviewed under caution, had her DNA taken and was bailed, only for the charges to be subsequently dropped at trial
She then faced a 'hellish' wait for a trial.
But at the first court hearing last month, she found out that the CPS had discontinued her case.
Mrs Forsyth added: 'We have to stand up to the bullies and we have to stand up for what we believe in and what is so wonderful about the hunting world.
'We are being targeted as a rural community. I cannot see any other situation where this would happen. I never thought I'd see the day where I would have my DNA taken with a mouth swab. I could not believe it.'
The CPS said that, in Mrs Forsyth's case, a prosecutor determined there was no realistic prospect of conviction and charges were discontinued.
Other collapsed cases include defendants prosecuted for having hounds loose on a country lane and interfering with a badger sett. Others were arrested for encouraging the commission of hunting.
The CPS said ten out of 15 prosecutions were brought by individual police forces.
A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police, which arrested Mrs Forsyth, said: 'We investigate all reports of crime that we receive based on available evidence, and charging decisions are made in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service based on that evidence.'
The National Police Chiefs Council was approached for comment.