West Country anglers are being warned about possible attacks from animal rights extremists, following an incident in north-west England in which fly-fishers were attacked by 30 men with baseball bats.
The incident earlier this month prompted the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trusts (FACT) organisation to demand a meeting with the Home Office to discuss anglers’ safety.
“We want to meet the Home Office to make sure the advice we give to anglers is the best and that the police treat these incidents with the seriousness they deserve,” a spokesman for FACT says.
The organisation’s chairman, Jim Glasspool, added FACT wanted to “ensure all steps are taken to protect innocent anglers from further attacks”.
Although there have been no attacks in Devon and Cornwall, anglers believe it could happen in the future.
“I am quite sure there could be attacks in the future, and we have to be ready for it if it happens,” says Bill Cox, secretary of the Plymouth and District Coarse Angling Club.
Hunt saboteur groups are known to have targeted anglers in the West Country in the past.
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