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| Badger cull: Gloucestershire police hold four night walkers | Badger cull: Gloucestershire police hold four night walkers |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Four people have been arrested by police inside the Gloucestershire badger cull zone. | Four people have been arrested by police inside the Gloucestershire badger cull zone. |
| They were held on suspicion of aggravated trespass after police responded to reports of horns being blown and individuals straying from a public footpath. | They were held on suspicion of aggravated trespass after police responded to reports of horns being blown and individuals straying from a public footpath. |
| Gloucestershire police said the four refused to give the arresting officer their details after they were stopped near the village of Forthampton at around 2am on Friday. A short time later they supplied the information and were released, the force confirmed. The four were not taken into custody. | Gloucestershire police said the four refused to give the arresting officer their details after they were stopped near the village of Forthampton at around 2am on Friday. A short time later they supplied the information and were released, the force confirmed. The four were not taken into custody. |
| Brian May, guitarist with the rock band Queen, is due to visit Gloucestershire on Friday to visit the cull zone. | Brian May, guitarist with the rock band Queen, is due to visit Gloucestershire on Friday to visit the cull zone. |
| May, a leading opponent of the cull, will be in the Tewkesbury area to meet residents and discuss their views on the pilot. A member of the Team Badger campaign, he will also join a peaceful night walk being staged by anti-cull activists. | May, a leading opponent of the cull, will be in the Tewkesbury area to meet residents and discuss their views on the pilot. A member of the Team Badger campaign, he will also join a peaceful night walk being staged by anti-cull activists. |
| An online petition that May started against the pilots has become the most signed on the official government website, with more than 300,000 names on it. "It remains a clear indication of the depth and continued growth of public outrage over environment secretary Owen Paterson's plan to kill thousands of badgers in the UK," May said. | |
| "It's also now the most unpopular thing this government has ever done, if their own petition website is any measure." The National Farmers' Union confirmed that the west Somerset cull began last week and opponents believe that the shooting in west Gloucestershire started on Tuesday night. | "It's also now the most unpopular thing this government has ever done, if their own petition website is any measure." The National Farmers' Union confirmed that the west Somerset cull began last week and opponents believe that the shooting in west Gloucestershire started on Tuesday night. |
| The pilots are aimed at tackling tuberculosis in cattle by killing about 5,000 badgers over a six-week period. | The pilots are aimed at tackling tuberculosis in cattle by killing about 5,000 badgers over a six-week period. |
| If culling can be done effectively, safely and humanely, plans will be implemented to roll out the scheme in areas that are hotspots for bovine tuberculosis (TB). | If culling can be done effectively, safely and humanely, plans will be implemented to roll out the scheme in areas that are hotspots for bovine tuberculosis (TB). |
| Farmers and the government insist that culling of badgers, which can spread TB to cattle, is needed to stop spiralling rates of the disease in herds. But opponents say culling the protected animal will have only a small effect on infection rates in cattle and will lead to badgers suffering. They want the emphasis to be on vaccines and tighter on-farm and cattle movement measures. | Farmers and the government insist that culling of badgers, which can spread TB to cattle, is needed to stop spiralling rates of the disease in herds. But opponents say culling the protected animal will have only a small effect on infection rates in cattle and will lead to badgers suffering. They want the emphasis to be on vaccines and tighter on-farm and cattle movement measures. |
| May said he would oppose any steps to expand the badger cull beyond Gloucestershire and Somerset. | May said he would oppose any steps to expand the badger cull beyond Gloucestershire and Somerset. |
| "We may be too late to prevent this tragedy happening in west England. But we will continue to stand against this," he said. | "We may be too late to prevent this tragedy happening in west England. But we will continue to stand against this," he said. |