ENTERTAINER and ornithologist Bill Oddie was among a high profile group of anti-cull campaigners who joined members of the Somerset Badger Patrol in Williton last week.

He was taken on a tour of the West Somerset cull zone on Friday, together with the chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, Joe Duckworth, the organisation's secretary, Michael Stephens and Labour MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy.

He met volunteers who had been patrolling the countryside during the six-week cull and visited a farm which had opted out of the cull last year in favour of vaccination.

Mr Oddie has been a vocal critic of the Government-backed cull which is being piloted in Somerset and Gloucestershire as part of a range of measures to try and curb the spread of bovine tuberculosis in cattle.

Opponents say there is no scientific evidence to support it, while experts ruled last year's cull had been ineffective and inhumane.

Mr Oddie said: "This one of the most controversial, unreasonable, unnecessary and damaging 'solutions' I have ever known in my whole life.

"It is revolting this Government has not listened to the people; it is unbelievable."

Sara Palmer, from Somerset Against the Badger Cull and a member of Team Badger, said the tour had lifted the spirits of patrol members.

The visit came the day after the Court of Appeal reserves judgement on a bid by the Badger Trust to stop the cull in the courts.

The charity claims the Government acted unlawfully by allowing it to go ahead without having an independent panel of experts in place to monitor its impact.

The trust believes that without an independent panel of experts, the Government will be unable to monitor the cull's safety, effectiveness and humaneness.

A panel was put in place for the first pilot cull last year and concluded that the pilot had not achieved its aims and was not humane.

The Government argued that the panel of experts was only ever intended to monitor the first cull, as this year's was being independently audited and lessons had been learnt from the first year.

Lord Justice Davis, who presided with Lord Justice Christopher Clarke and Lord Justice Bean, said the court would give its decision as soon as possible.

No decision had been made as the Free Press went to print yesterday morning (Thursday).

Bill Oddie is pictured planning the route for last Friday's Somerset Badger Patrol with Sara Palmer.

Photo: Somerset Photo News