A BOSBURY farmer says he fears a controversial badger cull will not halt TB in cattle.

Badgers are being trapped and killed in the surrounding area as one of ten trial zones around the country set up by the Government to learn more about the suspected link between badgers and the spread of TB.

Thomas Hawkins, owner of The Farm, at Bosbury, said he was a firm believer that such a link existed.

However, he warned that the tests were flawed because they would only kill 60 per cent of badgers and that the trials were in danger of being undermined by politicians.

"Although they are not the only factor, I'm absolutely sure badgers are a very major contributor to cattle TB," said Mr Hawkins.

"The simple fact is that 22,000 farm animals have been killed because of TB and yet we worry about the badgers more than the animals we're making commercial use of.

"I think the people in the field are working very hard at these trials, but what worries me is that the tests are going to produce so many grey areas they are going to be open to interpretation.

"As this is a political matter, anybody is going to be able to draw whatever conclusion they like."

Herefordshire and Worcestershire are two of the counties to have been hardest hit by TB in cattle.

In a written Parliamentary answer to questions from Worcestershire MPs Peter Luff and Sir Michael Spicer, it was revealed that the two counties suffered 328 cases of cattle TB in 2002, third only to Devon and Cornwall.

It was also revealed that 2,729 cattle were slaughtered in TB control measures, up from 786 in 1998.

However, Herefordshire Badger Group co-ordinator Peter Whiles said his members were becoming increasingly convinced that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was considering a reversal of the culling policy.

"We've been fighting this for several years and we're pleased to say at long last that DEFRA is starting to listen to our views that a more likely cause is cattle to cattle transmission," said Mr Whiles.

"They have to weigh up losing face by stopping the trial against the enormous cost of the cull, which is going to run into millions of pounds."