Badger cull arrest

A man from Gloucester has been arrested on suspicion of assault by officers responding to the badger cull.

It happened around 11.30pm last night [Thursday] after a disagreement between two groups in Tirley.

No one was seriously injured.

The 38-year-old remains in police custody.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, Martin Surl, has called on people with opposing views on the badger cull to act responsibly, consider their behaviour and co-operate with the police.

It comes three weeks into the start of the pilot badger cull in Gloucestershire.

His comments follow reports by members of the Wounded Badger Patrol about loud bangs in Tibberton earlier this week. They thought the noises were gun shots but police established there was no shooting in the area at that time. Instead, they were caused by crow scarers set off by cull operators.

Three people have been arrested in Gloucestershire by officers policing the badger cull.

A 20-year-old man from Walsall, a 52-year-old woman from Pittsburg, USA and a 26-year-old woman from South Croyden in Surrey were all arrested in Newent early this morning.

They are being held on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

The Farming Minister insists the badger cull IS on track. It's got three more weeks to run in West Somerset, but there are claims marksmen aren't killing enough badgers to make the trial scientifically worthwhile.

Today David Heath, who is also the MP for Somerton and Frome, told us the cull will be properly asssessed at the end of the trial, and he 'didn't recognise' reports that only a hundred badgers have been shot so far.

Our Environment Correspondent Duncan Sleightholme reports.

A charity has claimed photos of a dead badger proves the animals are suffering painful deaths as part of the badger cull. Defra however, says the pictures are not connected to the trials.

The animal rescue centre Secret World in Highbridge, Somerset, says a post mortem on a dead badger (pictured) proves the animals are suffering painful deaths as part of the badger cull. It the first photo released of a culled badger.

They say that the position of the badger's organs outside its body - which is too graphic to publish - and the fact it was found away from its sett, show that it did not die instantaneously, but ran away mortally wounded.

The rock star and wildlife campaigner Brian May has apologised for using the term 'genocide' to describe the badger cull pilots taking place in the West of England.

The Queen musician's alleged remarks were made during a visit to Gloucestershire last week and caused a backlash among members of the Jewish community.

Writing on his website, May said he could not remember using the phrase "genocide in the countryside," but that he had given some 20 interviews and may have lost track.

May said he had no intention to "slight the Jewish community" but maintained it was "not a very big flight of fancy" to refer to the killing of animals in this way.

"The word I prefer to use about the badger cull is 'massacre' ... because really the word 'cull' is enormously euphemistic," he added.

Read: May leads anti-badger cull walk

A dairy farmer and businessman from Weston-super-Mare has claimed the badger cull in Somerset will not succeed due to a failure to shoot enough of the animals.

North Somerset Cllr Derek Mead said only a handful of badgers are being shot daily in the Exmoor culling zone.

He said after two weeks of shooting the total number of badgers killed was 'well below 100', a tiny proportion of the 2,000 needed to be shot if the six-week pilot is to be successful.

He has called for badgers to be gassed instead of shot.

The culls aim to assess if culling can be done effectively, safely and humanely, with plans to roll out the scheme more widely in areas that are hotspots for TB in cattle.

Farmers and the Government insist culling of badgers, which can spread TB to cattle, is needed to stop spiralling rates of the disease in herds.

The Conservative MP for Bridgwater, Ian Liddell-Grainger, says he's received over 30 hate letters because of his strong views on the badger cull.

Mr Liddell-Grainger supports the cull and had a dead badger left on his doorstep.

In article written afterwards, he said cull protesters were 'malingerers' and 'scroungers'.

Gloucestershire Police said four people were arrested in Redmarley in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

• A 46-year-old woman from Cheltenham
• A 34-year-old woman from Gloucester
• A 46-year-old woman from Evesham
• A 23-year-old man from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire

All four were arrested on suspicion of theft and aggravated trespass.

The 34-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.