It is a sad reflection on the local cattle farming community that despite the overwhelming scientific evidence against the value of badger killing as a means of controlling bovine TB in cattle, it continues to perceive such culling as the easy panacea to the problem ("Cull the badgers to save our cows", Mercury, March 10).

While nobody should doubt the seriousness of the disease, it's important to clarify the facts.

There is no evidence of bovine TB in the badger population of Leicestershire, all TB tests on local badgers having been negative. This may change through cattle to badger transmission, if TB infected cattle continue to be brought into the county.

Even in those parts of Britain where bovine TB is endemic in badger populations, the vast majority of bovine TB transmission (80 per cent) is from cattle to cattle.

Unless there were to be an almost total eradication of the badger population over a large area of countryside (at least 300 square kilometres) – which is tantamount to impossible – any local killing of badgers within areas with TB-infected badger populations, would increase the spread of bovine TB in cattle.

The Irish Republic has the worst problem with bovine TB in cattle in Europe, and their rate is still increasing despite six years of killing badgers through a cruel and intensive snaring programme. In contrast, Northern Ireland has managed to slash the incidence of the disease in cattle by 40 per cent in just one year. No badgers were killed, they simply tightened up their cattle TB testing regime.

The control and, hopeful, eradication of bovine TB from British cattle must emanate from a cattle-based strategy of effective bovine TB testing and biosecurity on farms. This clearly does not currently prevail.

In a recent report, the National Audit Office has laid the blame for the spread of bovine TB at the door of the hopelessly inadequate testing regime and the poor standards of herd biosecurity.

Dr David Duckett, chairman, Leicestershire Badger Group.