A SENIOR police officer has maintained that having pro-cull representatives in the police control room during the badger cull was the right thing to do in the interests of public safety. Superintendent Kevin Instance said he was not aware of any breach of confidential information as a result of the presence of members of cull contractors HNV Associates and the National Farmers' Union (NFU). He said having the representatives in the control room had allowed police to have "real time" information about the location of cull contractors. He also claimed there had been "no opportunity" for cull staff or the NFU to direct police officers. He made his comments in response to a letter from West Somerset Labour Party campaigner Andy Lewis who had called for a review of the arrangement to ensure police impartiality. Details of the presence of the pro-cull representatives were made public as a result of a complaint made against police following an incident in Carhampton during last year's cull. Mr Lewis, who is the branch secretary of the West Somerset Labour Party, said an investigation into the complaint - which was partly upheld - showed the the police had been "directed" by representatives from the (NFU) and cull company HNV Associates during the policing operation. He welcomed Mr Instance's response, but took issue with some of his comments. "We wonder whether the official policy corresponds with reality. "The reassurances have to be seen against the background of a police disciplinary report - a protester who called 999 to say he had been assaulted was treated as a suspect by police. "The report speaks of representatives from the police, the contractors and the NFU all giving directions to a police communications operator. "Superintendent Instance's letter gives a picture of a well-managed control room. "But the police's own report into the incident at Carhampton gives a very different picture." The police communication operator who was questioned as part of the investigation into the complaint claimed the contractors "would advise the communications dispatcher where a problem was" which he said "felt as if the contractor or NFU representative was actually directing the police". He also claimed the different parties would often shout across each other, sometimes with conflicting information. Mr Lewis said the communication operator showed the control room was "a chaotic place where people were shouting across each other and conflicting information was flying back and forth, not being recorded properly". Mr Instance gave a different view of the operation and said the representatives could not hear police radio communications and were not given access to any personal information relating to people who were arrested. "The police were not able to speak directly to the contractors over the air and there was certainly no opportunity for cull company staff or the NFU to direct police resources. "There was a senior officer at all times in the control room to ensure that the police maintained control of police staff on the ground and that all deployments were appropriate," he said. He said it was normal practice to share the control room with relevant agencies and organisations when policing events and said there were clear safety grounds to have the NFU and the cull company present. Mr Instance said: "The purpose of these partner agencies being in the control room was to maximise public safety which was the key and overriding objective of the police. "Shooting at night in rural areas where the public are engaged in protest presents a degree of danger. "A good deal of training was delivered by the NFU to the contractors to help alleviate the risks. "It was part of the licence agreement that if the police felt at any time safety was significantly compromised, then the police should call a halt to the shooting. "Fortunately, this was not required to happen but procedures needed to be put into place to ensure that they would be effective if called upon." He added: "The guests within our control room were highly experienced in command and control arrangements and were very well aware of the implications of data protection and need to maintain operational security." Mr Lewis said the police needed to recognise the need for a degree of separation between officers and pro-cull representatives. "We still believe the best way to achieve this is for the contractors to have a separate control room, with a police presence there to observe what goes on. "This is the solution that was used Gloucestershire during last year's cull and we hope it will be adopted in Somerset," he said.