LAMPING for game is a squalid activity and the law should come down on it with a vengeance.

Personally, I think that the 18th century landowners had the right idea – man traps and spring guns.

Regrettably, squires are not permitted to maim or shoot felons anymore, so we must stand by and watch toothless magistrates courts give wildlife criminals a slap on the wrist.

Don’t kid yourself that lamping is merely a harmless ‘good old gipsy boy’ custom to provide meat for the quaintly-painted Romany caravan’s stew pot.

In many parts of rural England the hare – a species frequently targeted – has virtually vanished, lamped almost to extinction by midnight criminals.

Once again, animals suffer because our ruling ‘liberal’ elite has decided not to take measures to protect them.