Badger TB vaccine sites earmarked

Many farmers believe badgers spread the disease in cattle

Two areas near Tiverton in Devon have been earmarked for a pilot scheme to see if vaccinating badgers can reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB).

Badgers are blamed by many farmers for spreading the disease, which affects cattle. The South West, west of England and Wales have been worst affected.

The pilot will run in six areas and involve contractors working with vets and farmers to trap and inject badgers.

The trial is due to last five years and is expected to start next May.

At the moment Defra is talking to vets and farmers in each of the six areas to get them involved, and they do not have to sign up for all five years.

Two 100-sq-km (39-sq-mile) areas east and west of Tiverton will be used to trial the badger vaccination programme.

Cattle slaughtered

The other sites will be in Staffordshire, Gloucestershire and on the Herefordshire and Worcestershire border.

According to Defra, the trial is more about testing how the deployment of trappers and vets will work, rather than a scientific test of the vaccine.

The vaccine is effective for just 12 months so badgers will have to be trapped several times over the course of the trial to give them booster injections.

Devon has been particularly hard hit by the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

In March church leaders, farmers and rural campaigners called on the government to halt a deepening spread of bovine tuberculosis in Devon.

In an open letter written to Defra minister Hilary Benn, they pleaded with him to find a solution.

They alleged the disease was causing misery to thousands of farmers in Devon, bringing many to the edge of despair, and claimed that 16,000 cattle had been slaughtered in Devon after contracting bovine TB since 2006.