A group of 84 landowners is backing a hunt’s attempt to ban saboteurs from almost every piece of open land and countryside in West Sussex.

Their aim is to win a common law injunction against trespassing and harassment by activists from the West Sussex Wildlife Protection Group and its two main organisers, Simon and Jaine Wilde, under the Protection and Harassment Act 1997.

If an injunction is awarded at the High Court this week, the activists will be banned from 10,000 acres of land, nearly the whole of the county, except for large public estates, footpaths and public highways.

The same legal mechanism could then be used against militants who disrupt shooting and interfere with the rearing of game birds.

This is the first time that such a large group of farmers and landowners has joined forces with a hunt to tackle animal rights protesters.

The case is being partly funded by the Countryside Alliance and the Masters of Foxhounds Association. But the biggest share is coming from the Crawley and Horsham Hunt and the landowners, who claimed to have logged 269 incidents of trespass and harassment caused by the Wildes and their associates during the past two years over about 10,000 acres of land.

The ban on hunting was introduced in February 2005 and since then 184 foxhound packs have adapted to legal forms of the sport by following a false scent, hunting with a bird of prey or organising hound exercise trails, activities allowed under the Hunting Act.

Thousands of new supporters have been attracted to the sport to ensure that the tradition survives.The only hunt that remains under constant scrutiny by protesters, however, is the Crawley and Horsham, which is seeking an injunction to take effect from September 1. Anyone in breach of such an injunction is liable to be prosecuted for contempt of court and police have the power of arrest in the event of any breaches.

At present, every time that the hunt goes out police are informed that it is involved in illegal practices. Each time officers have investigated an allegation, however, no action has been taken. Anthony Sandeman, 51, a farmer and a joint master of the hunt, who lives in Bolney, West Sussex, decided that it was time to take action against the activists, of whom there are up to 20 at any one time.

It is claimed that these activists frequently wear balaclavas to conceal their faces and spray citronella on the ground to disorientate the hounds, which are now trained to follow a false fox scent.

Huntsmen say they are concerned that, unless the activity is stopped, an accident will occur.

The Times contacted Simon and Jaine Wilde, who live in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, but they were unwilling to comment.

Mr Sandeman said: “We can’t and won’t stop legitimate monitoring of the hunt from the public highways and rights of way. What we are seeking is a ban to stop the filming of hunt supporters, children and old people, who follow us on foot. There has been considerable intimidation of these people in an attempt to stop them supporting the hunt. Some of the children get very disturbed when cameras are put in front of them.”

He said that harassment on this scale was tiresome and that it also wasted police time, with nine or ten officers turning out to police the hunt opponents.

The lawyer acting for the hunt, Tim Lawson-Cruttenden, has obtained injunctions against activists in a number of prominent cases, including the Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory and the Newchurch guinea-pig farm where a family grave was desecrated.

He said: “It is important in this case that the claimants are not trying to stop anything that is lawful. The focus is on unlawful activity.”

The application calls for a no-trespass injunction on landowners’ property and an exclusion zone to protect the hunt kennels at West Grinstead, which is home to 80 hounds.

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