A member of Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs says it is a "miracle" she wasn't badly injured when she was trampled by a horse while monitoring a meet in East Midlands.

Rachel, a NHS nurse from Bedfordshire, had been standing in front of a gate in a field, monitoring a hunt with other members of Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs. 

The group, which has more than 18,000 followers on Facebook, says it is "saving wildlife through direct action".

Fox hunting has been banned since 2005, and huntsmen say they follow scent trails laid by humans instead, but saboteurs like Rachel are determined to prove illegal fox hunting is still taking place.

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One huntsman on horseback warned Rachel he was going to jump over the gate.

Rachel, 60, said: "I could hear the thundering hooves behind me and then he jumped and I could feel the pressure on my back and a pain in my leg.

"By some miracle, I wasn't injured badly. I don't think the shock and enormity has hit me yet."

Jim Barrington, animal welfare manager at Countryside Alliance -  a group that says it aims to protect and promote the rural way of life - has previously said anti-hunting groups claiming trail hunting "is just a smokescreen for live quarry hunting" are "pumping out propaganda".

A 34-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of GBH and released under investigation.