THE National Trust this week decisively scotched rumours it was planning to allow local hunts back on to its land on a regular basis. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the trust said it would not allow "exempt hunting" of deer on the Holnicote Estate. However, it would in exceptional circumstances allow huntsmen to dispatch a sick or injured deer. The denial was prompted by national and local press reports claiming the trust was set to perform a U-turn on its policy of not allowing hunting on its land. The trust has refused to issue licences for the hunting of deer on its property since 1997. But with the advent of the Hunting Act, local hunts have been banned from using a pack of dogs to chase mammals. Instead, meets have continued by either riding out while exercising hounds or by following the 'exempt hunting' rules which allow no more than two dogs to be used to flush out a sick or injured deer which must then be shot at the earliest opportunity. Alex Brannen, of the National Trust, confirmed a working group had been set up to look into the animal welfare implications of exempt hunting, but said reports hunts would be allowed back onto trust-owned property were untrue. He said: "The working group considered whether the activity of exempt hunting had benefits for deer welfare and management compared with the trust's current practice of culling deer by shooting by rifle. "In particular, the working group sought to establish whether the exempt hunting of deer avoided the long chases, exhaustion and stress to deer that were the reasons for the trust ceasing to issue licences for conventional deer hunting in 1997. "The working group's recommendation, which the board accepted, was that the exempt hunting of deer as generally practised by the local hunt should not be licensed on trust property because of the uncertainties over the nature of the activity and the difficulty that has been experienced of obtaining clear evidence relating to it." But he said the board had backed a further recommendation which it believed would be in the best interests of deer welfare and which would see some huntsmen and women operating on its land. Mr Brannen said: "In the exceptional cases when a clearly injured or sick deer is found on adjacent property during exempt hunting and crosses on to the trust's land before it can be despatched, the minimum number of hunt staff necessary to kill the deer humanely will be allowed onto trust property to enable this to happen as soon as possible. "This is subject to the requirement that the hunt informs the trust's local staff in advance when they know they are going to be active on the boundaries of the trust's land. The effectiveness of this will be reviewed after a year." Mr Brannen stressed the decisions specifically related to the Holnicote Estate and said the "status quo" would remain on its land on the Quantock Hills.