Video shows a woman who says she shouted at a pack of hounds - to protect a fox.

Former fox-hunter turned hunt saboteur Lynn Sawyer is heard yelling at the dogs in woods.

She says she spotted a fox ''running for its life'' through Moors Wood in Steeple Barton in Oxfordshire on February 13 - quickly followed by a pack of hounds.

She says the dogs were from the Heythrop Hunt.

Lynn says the dogs were in full cry - the noise they make when on the scent of a fox.

Video shows her blocking their path and used shouting 'hunt staff commands' to call the hounds off.

Lynn, a Gloucestershire resident and member of the Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs, said: "I was just glad I was in the right place at the right time to save this fox.''"

Emily Lawrence, campaigns manager for national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports, claims it was illegal fox hunting.

The hunt denies this.

Emily said: ''This incident highlights how the excuse being used by hunts that they are following pre-laid trails is a smokescreen to conceal their continued pursuit and killing of foxes from the public, police and courts.

"We need the government to commit to a timetable of when they will ban so-called trail hunting, remove the exemptions in the law being exploited by hunts and introduce custodial sentences for those that break the law. The time for change is now."

Emily added: "We sadly get hundreds of reports every year of foxes being chased and we suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg, but for once, thanks to the bravery of Lynn, the fox escaped being torn apart."

"Let's consign this brutal blood sport to the history books."

A spokesperson for the Heythrop Hunt said: "The Heythrop Hunt conducts lawful trail hunting activities to comply with the Hunting Act yet it is routinely followed by anti-hunting activists that make spurious allegations using heavily edited footage to suit their animal rights agenda. "

''The video clearly shows various species of wildlife – including deer – being disturbed and moving around in the countryside while hounds are in the area, which would not be unexpected, but there is no evidence to suggest that any illegal activity has taken place.

''The hunt has, however, got serious concerns about the unknown substance being sprayed onto the land by this activist which could potentially affect the respiratory system of the hounds or other wildlife and we urge them to resist from interfering with the hounds by using such substances in this way."