TB test row calf Fern is put down

Two tests on Fern were carried out

A Devon calf which has been at the centre of a long-running dispute about TB testing has been put down.

South Devon farmer Sheilagh Kremers, 63, spent weeks trying to persuade Defra to give Fern a second TB test, after arguing the first was flawed.

The calf was tested again after the government admitted the original test had not been carried out properly.

The second positive test meant that the calf had to be destroyed under UK and European law.

Ms Kremers had previously refused to allow Defra officials to remove Fern from her farm at East Ogwell, near Newton Abbot.

She said she was taking a stand to save Fern and against the government's policy of killing cattle but not badgers, which also spread the disease.