THE FOREST Council has a new fan – rock legend, scientist and anti badger cull activist Brian May.

The Queen guitarist used Twitter to highlight a successful motion by the council to petition the government to supply a vaccine to fight bovine TB.

Leader of the Labour group Cllr Di Martin proposed a motion at the full council on July 18 that the council should pursue the government to develop a vaccine to prevent bovine TB in badgers thereby avoiding the killing of 70 per cent of badgers in the selected cull area.

West Gloucestershire is one of two trial areas in England where a cull has been sanctioned.

The support for the motion means that the council will now make an official petition to encourage the government to develop and supply such a vaccine for badgers.

On Twitter Dr May flagged up the decision under his own tag @brianmaycom.

His Twitter conversation also reports that Derbyshire County Council has recently banned culling on any land that it owns – a move that is also being applauded, and other councils urged to follow suit.

•A Herefordshire newspaper published a map purporting to show the badger cull area in West Gloucestershire – which was highlighted as being bordered by the Rivers Severn and Wye. However a spokeswoman for DEFRA, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was adamant that the map was not generated by the government, and that no reliability should be based on it.