London - Thousands of British fox hunting enthusiasts have signed up to a novel project which is trying to circumvent a new ban on the sport by re-classifying it as a religion, organisers said on Friday.
Up to 700 people a day are joining the internet-based "Free Church of Country Sports" since British lawmakers voted to outlaw hunting last week, the church said.
Rod Brammar, a country-dwelling shooting instructor who devised the idea of the church in 2001, said it was not yet known how many believers his new religion had attracted in all.
"Many members are not listed on the site so we are probably ... around the 12 000 mark now," he said.
"It is going wild. People now see us as the ones the government will eventually have to negotiate with."
Ever since the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair was first elected in 1997 with a mandate to outlaw hunting, enthusiasts have tried many ways to counter the ban, of which Brammar's is perhaps the most ingenious.
The church, which takes as its icon Saint Hubert, the Patron Saint of hunters, argues that the sport's centuries-long history, established rituals and the fervour it inspires among followers allows it to qualify under British law as a religion.
If it could be registered as a faith, the church would aim to challenge the ban on fox hunting under human rights legislation, arguing that it is a religious ritual, much like the halaal slaughter of animals by Muslims.
"We are on rock-solid legal ground," Brammar said.
Pro-hunting protestors clashed with police outside parliament last week as the legislation was being debated, while a group of activists managed to storm into the House of Commons chamber in a major security breach.