Councillors have vowed to stop any badger cull from taking place in Brighton and Hove.

The current Green administration at Brighton and Hove City Council has said it will look to block any proposed culling in the city and surrounding downland should the Government look to expand the programme from its current pilot test area.

Labour figures in the city have also called on the Government to axe their plans to cull badgers across the UK while urging the Green administration of the council to look at doing “whatever they can” to prevent any culls taking place across the city.

Sussex Wildlife Trust has already announced that it would not support any cull on its land although doubts have been raised by Government officials whether any locally stated ban would be enforceable.

A test badger cull was launched in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset last month with the aim of killing 5,000 badgers, the equivalent of 70% of the local badger populations across both counties.

Green Councillor Pete West and chair of the council’s environment and sustainability committee said: “Badger culling is both cruel and ineffective.

“We would look to block culling in Brighton and Hove, should the government decide to ignore the experts and widespread public concern by expanding their programme.”

Councillor Gill Mitchell, Labour environment spokeswoman, said: ‘We are firmly against the Government’s flawed badger cull plans, it’s a policy that flies in the face of scientific opinion on how to tackle incidents of Bovine TB in cattle.

“My colleagues and I will be pushing this Green minority administration to make sure they do everything they can to stop culls taking place across the city.”

Hove MP Mike Weatherley signed an early day motion registering concerns about the cull and calling on Environment secretary to hold a Commons vote before any decision on a wider roll-out of the pilot badger cull is taken.

He said: “Although I understand that many people are concerned about the effect that Bovine Tuberculosis is having on farmers, I am not convinced that the culling of badgers is the right approach.

“I believe that further research needs to be commissioned urgently in order to investigate alternatives to culling, including the possibility of a vaccination programme similar to the one that is currently being undertaken in Wales.”

A Defra spokeswoman said: “Badger culling will only ever take place in parts of the country where TB is widespread, such as the South West.

“Nobody wants to cull badgers but we must remove the infection if we are to stop the spread of this deadly disease.”