The chief executive of the RSPCA said the government's pledge to end badger culling is a "watershed moment". 

The government pledged on Friday to end the culling within five years as part of its new strategy to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (BTB).

More than 230,000 badgers have been killed and 278,000 cows have been compulsorily slaughtered in efforts to control the disease, costing taxpayers more than £100 million every year, it said.

The new “holistic” strategy includes a badger vaccinator field force to increase vaccination-rates and measures to control cattle.

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It is the first novel strategy for controlling BTB to be introduced in a decade, the Department for Environmental and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

The package will allow government to end the badger cull by the close of parliament, which could be in 2029, it added.

The government has aimed to eradicate BTB by 2038 and hoped the new strategy will help England become officially TB free as well as protect farmers’ livelihoods.

Chris Sherwood, the chief executive of the RSPCA which is based in Horsham, said: “This announcement is really welcome and marks a watershed moment in the fight against bovine tuberculosis.

“We are concerned, however, that badgers will still face up to another five years of being needlessly killed in the name of bovine TB eradication."