Thousands of people turned out for the traditional Boxing Day hunt meets yesterday and were told to "be patient" in their five-year wait to repeal the hunting ban.

Town and village centres from Somerset and Dorset to Wiltshire and Gloucestershire came to a standstill as supporters, foot followers, riders and hounds gathered on what is traditionally the biggest day in the hunting calendar.

A year ago, they had hoped 2010's Boxing Day meet – held on Bank Holiday Monday because no hunts meet on Sundays – would be the last under the Hunting Act.

But a failure to get a majority of MPs in the new parliament after May's General Election means "the time is not yet right" for repeal, according to the new chief executive of the Countryside Alliance.

In an interview on the pro-hunting website The Master's Voice, Alice Barnard called for patience in the fight for repeal, and attempted to curtail calls from pro-hunt grassroots for a breakaway hunting organisation to take on the fight from the Alliance.

"That would be suicidal for hunting… and misguided," she said. "Hunting must be seen as part of a wider rural activity, it must be seen as part of the rural community. If hunting wants to stand alone I believe the chances of securing its future would be zero."

Mrs Barnard spoke after growing talk of a breakaway campaign group along the lines of the work the British Association for Shooting and Conservation does for shooting.

"The name Countryside Alliance speaks a thousand words. It's about a community, it's about an alliance of people who have a common vision, a common feeling of what is good and right for the countryside," she added.

"It would not be helpful of me to set a date (for a vote). The most important thing right now is patience. Please bear in mind people are losing their jobs and the economic crunch is only now starting to tell. If we push for repeal right now we will be seen as clearly out of touch," she said.

Countryside Alliance spokeswoman Jill Grieve said hunt supporters had an 'act of trust' with David Cameron's Government to look at repealing the Hunting Act.

"When the coalition reached an agreement around the act there was a promise to go and revisit. We need some clarification on this farcical situation we find ourselves in," she added.