Sonia Hawes, who lives in High Street, Eydon, says now she can never leave her home for the weekend for fear the dogs will destroy her garden again.

The 51-year-old artist was finishing her lunch when she saw around 20 hunting dogs from the Bicester Hunt enter her garden, damaging her pond, swimming pool and woodpile.

She said: "The dogs ploughed straight through the fence and wrecked two fencing panels. I've got quite a large pond and at one point there were 12 hounds in it. They've pierced the liner and our swimming pool cover has been wrecked because it has been stretched.

"I went out into the road to see if there was anyone there because these dogs have no collars, so there's nothing to grab them with. It wasn't until 10 to 15 minutes later that the hunt got into the village.

"The master apologised and agreed to pay for the damage. It's all very well paying for the physical damage but it doesn't cover the stress of that afternoon. I've got an elderly dog and the shock if nothing else could have killed it.

"They looked like frenzied dogs that were totally out of control," she said.

The Hunting Act 2004 bans hunting wild mammals with dogs except in certain circumstances. There are situations when dogs pick up the scent of a fox while out on a hunt, even if the hunt did not go out with the intention of hunting foxes. The maximum fine for breaching the hunting law is £5,000.

Damage to the garden during the incident on December 29 has already amounted to £1,000 and could reach £4,000 depending on the damage to the swimming pool.

Christopher Hodgson, master of the Bicester Hunt, said: "We have apologised profusely for this intrusion into Mrs Hawes's garden at Eydon which has never happened before. The hunt staff will do everything possible to prevent such an event happening again."

donna.bowater@northantsnews.co.uk