A CAMPAIGNER handed in a petition against deer hunting a week after gunmen were banned from a forest.

Paul Morris won the fight to stop deer from being killed in Epping Forest, but wanted to “tie up loose ends” with the City of London Corporation.

On Wednesday, December 7, it terminated its contract with the Caprelous Club to kill Fallow and Muntjac deer in 15 “buffer zones” after public outcry.

More than 5,000 people had signed the petition voicing their concern in just one week.

People had initially planned to stage a small protest at the CoL’s offices when the petition was handed in, but called it off after the decision was reversed.

Instead, Mr Morris and his wife, Deborah, had a “good discussion” with the director of open spaces, Sue Ireland.

The father said: “I am elated there won’t be deer hunting in the forest anymore, but I wanted to make sure they still recognised our petition.

“I was elated about the decision. I’m grateful we did this in the right manner, too. When you get a public outcry, it’s easy to want to demonstrate and take action.

“We wanted to do it the right way, because when you go down the right channels, you’re more likely to get heard. For us, that paid off.”

The club was ordered to give its members 30 days’ notice but as of January 6, hunters will not allowed to kill deer in the area.

In the meantime, Mr Morris says what happened has spurred him to launch a People’s Panel to continue to stand up for the forest.

He says “the whole thing could have been avoided” if the panel, which has been promised by the CoL, had been set up already.