THE National Trust for Scotland has decided to ban fox hunting on the

only patch of its land where the sport has been carried on.

It is withdrawing permission for the Fife Fox-Hounds to hunt over the

trust's 500-acre Hill of Tarvit estate, near Cupar.

The Advocates for Animals organisation, part of The League Against

Cruel Sports, said it now hoped the English National Trust would follow

the Scottish example.

Spokesman Les Ward said: ''Although the Fife hunt didn't utilise this

land to a great extent, the principle is an important one and we now

look for the English National Trust to follow the Scottish lead.''

The ban, decided by a majority last Friday but announced only

yesterday, comes about 10 weeks before a motion at the trust's annual

general meeting in Troon on April 22 calling for a ban.

Mr Ward said that as a trust member he had gathered more than 40

signatures in support of a motion.

''I just don't think that they had the stomach for a fight at the

agm,'' Mr Ward said. ''But we welcome the council's decision. We are

very pleased, but it is not before time.''

In view of the decision the motion has been withdrawn.

A spokesman for the trust said that although permission had previously

been given for fox hunting on the estate, only one hunt had taken place

there in the past eight years.

''It doesn't happen anywhere else. No-one has asked. It was thought it

might as well stop on this estate,'' he said.

The spokesman said the Hill of Tarvit mansionhouse, with its 500 acres

of gardens, forest and farmland, was given to the trust in 1949 by its

woman owner. She had allowed hunts, and the trust had inherited the

tradition.

The trust spokesman said the council's discussion was limited to the

situation on Hill of Tarvit. ''They didn't discuss the wider issue of

hunting in the general sense because there is no need to,'' he said.

However, Mr Ward said he hoped the trust would apply the same ban to

all its land in the future and it would never allow ''this barbaric

practice'' to happen on it.

A spokesman for the British Field Sports Society in Scotland, which

looks after the interests of hunting, shooting, fishing and falconry,

said: ''This is not a ban on hunting, but an administrative closure

because the Fife hunt didn't utilise the facilities.''

One of four joint masters of the Fife Fox-Hounds, Mr Pat Laird, said:

''We are very sad about this decision, but it is not a bit of ground we

have used in the last 10 years or so.

''That has just been out of choice. The main Aberdeen-London railway

line and several roads are close there and it is also an area of

intensive livestock farming.

''We hunt on the East of Fife and there are plenty of foxes. But it is

a sad thing when the family who owned the land were very keen and good

supporters of fox-hunting when they were there.''