The Farmer's Union of Wales have issued calls for the reinstatement of controversial badger culls to tackle bovine TB.

They say this follows the recent publication of data by Defra following a four year programme badger culls in both Somerset and Gloucestershire, which have now been expanded to other areas of England.

The FUW believes that the results demonstrate the need to reinstate the Intensive Action Area (IAA) badger cull programme which was abolished and replaced with a badger vaccination programme under the then Environment Minister, John Griffiths.

Ian Lloyd, FUW Animal Health and Welfare Committee Chairman, said: "These findings are unsurprising and support the FUW’s interpretation of the results of the Randomised Badger Culling Trials. Previous modelling by the FUW showed that herd incidences could be reduced by 30 percent in a 5 year cull and by a further 33 percent in the following 3 years post-culling.”

"The conclusions of this report, and the ongoing failure of Welsh Government to tackle the wildlife reservoir of disease confirm that Wales' TB eradication programme has lost impetus.

"In contrast to England, farmers in Wales have seen just 5 badgers culled since the start of the ‘Refreshed’ TB Eradication programme almost a year ago. The costs of this meagre cull programme have been exorbitant and it is now time for the Welsh TB programme to place the same emphasis on dealing with wildlife as it does cattle.

"In light of the English results, and the fact that Welsh Government effectively has a plan on the shelf which is, in many ways, ‘ready to go’, it is now time to reinstate the original plan for the IAA in order to accelerate the Welsh bovine TB programme.

More than 10,000 cattle were culled due to bovine TB in Wales in 2017, representing a 2.3 percent rise on the previous year.

But wildlife campaigners say there is "no reliable evidence" that badger culling is having any impact on lowering bovine TB in cattle.

A statement from the Badger Trust condemned the UK government's decision to expand the policy of badger culls in England, and said badgers were facing extinction in parts of Britain.

"By 2020 over 150,000 badgers are likely to have been killed as a result of the cull policy, pushing this protected species to verge of extinction in parts of Britain which it has inhabited since the Ice Age. With the public costs of the badger cull now estimated to be well over £50 million and rising fast, the Government has yet to provide any reliable evidence to show the mass destruction of badgers is having any significant impact on lowering bovine TB in or around the cull zones.

"Under the cull policy cage trapping and shooting badgers is currently costing the tax payer over £1,000 per badger. However, badger vaccination teams across Britain are now trapping and vaccinating badgers against TB for less than £200 per badger, less than a fifth of the cost of culling.

"If the government really wishes to reduce the spread of TB in badgers, it should bring an immediate halt to the cruel, ineffective and hugely costly badger cull and introduce a publicly funded national badger vaccination programme."

Simon Collie, who represents campaign group Stop the Welsh Cull said there was "no indication" badger culls were effective and called the culling policy an "expensive failure".

"Any suggestion that the culls are working is based on cherry picking data and then misinterpreting it, as the DEFRA ministers know because the latest report published by their own department states 'these data alone cannot demonstrate whether [the cull] is effective in reducing bovine TB in cattle'," he said.

"The policy being pursued in Wales is an expensive failure. Before the cull the Welsh Government was very successfully reducing bovine TB in cattle with cattle measures alone. We will fight any attempt to continue or to expand the Welsh badger cull with every tool at our disposal. "