A COUPLE from near Broadway have accused the North Cotswold Hunt of letting their hounds “run riot” in their garden.

Alex and Pam Peters were at their Little Buckland home at lunchtime on Saturday when they discovered about 10 hounds had come through a fence into their back garden.

Mrs Peters said she ran to retrieve their pet dalmatian Suki while the dogs trampled a vegetable patch, knocked over plant pots, disturbed a wildlife area and ran through a plot where she had laid the ashes of her parents.

The 65-year-old, who has lived in the village for 14 years, said she feared what might have happened had her two-year-old grandson and 10-year-old granddaughter been playing in the garden at the time. “The hounds were going absolutely berserk,” she said.

“It’s an awful sight to see. What could have happened if somebody had been out in the garden?

“There’s just no consideration for other people.”

Mrs Peters said Suki would have to be kept out of the garden until the fence was repaired and that the couple had written to the hunt and reported the incident to police.

A spokesman from West Mercia Police confirmed they were aware of the incident.

Major Nigel Peel, joint Master of North Cotswold Hunt, told the Journal on Tuesday: “I was not aware that there had been an incident or a complaint.

“When I know the nature of it we will, of course, visit the people and put everything right. Meanwhile, I unreservedly apologise.”