ANIMAL rights campaigner, Queen guitarist, and astro­physicist, Brian May visited the badger cull zone in Newent last week – to help publicise the on-going second cull of the animals in the county.

Promoting the 'Save Me Trust', (SMT), and 'Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting' (GABS), Mr May met with members of the organisation who operate wounded badger patrols, with teams setting out every night in selected areas that they believe will be targeted by the shooters.

They are aiming to reduce the badger population by trapping and free shooting the animals in an effort to reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

In a statement from the Save Me Trust, they said: "It is fantastic that these people are out at night to patrol and take care of any wounded badgers."

They added: "We do not support the cull, and are advocating vaccination "It is a realistic approach that is both affordable and achievable. Following this policy the cull zone cost would have been one tenth of its present level, and would actually stand a chance of making the badger population TB-free.

"We must not forget that during the badger cull years of 19999 - 2009 one zone in Cornwall saw bTB rise from 0.5% of the population, to 10% - showing clearly that culling does not help reduce bTB in cattle, and actually increases the bTB burden in badgers.

"Brian has just come back from a hugely successful world tour with Queen, and was keen to revisit the cull zones, supporting UK wildlife against this policy that defies science. We are delighted to welcome Brian May back to support us on patrol in the cull zone.

Mr May was in Newent on Monday of last week, joining a patrol that left from the Llewall Street car park. Later he left to visit Somerset, and the other designated badger cull zone.