Policing badger cull costs West Mercia Police £260,000

Amy Singleton of West Mercia Police said all the costs would be covered in full by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which had organised the cull.

Last year the cull of badgers, a government initiative to reduce the threat of bovine TB, was extended to cover 40 areas.

While none of the sites are in Shropshire, the cull did include Herefordshire and Staffordshire. Given that many farms straddle the county boundaries, it is likely that badgers will have been shot in Shropshire.

A police spokesman said the costs were likely to have been incurred in keeping the peace during the cull.

"The police have to be neutral, and the costs will be for the planning, policing response, engaging with protesters and providing patrols," he said.

It comes as the Government announced that intensive badger culling to tackle TB in livestock will be gradually phased out as moves are made to deploy a cattle vaccine for the disease.