An expert witness has told a court he does not believe Fernie Hunt workers disturbed an active badger sett when they dug out a fox.

Stephen Lomax, a vet and a cattle farmer, said at Leicester Magistrates' Court yesterday there was "an extremely high number of badgers" living in the area where the digging took place.

But he disputed the claim that a video and pictures of the site proved the sett was active.

Huntsman Derek Hopkins (45), of Welham Road, Great Bowden, and terrierman Kevin Allen (51), of Nether Green, Great Bowden, deny hunting a wild mammal with a dog contrary to the law.

They also deny digging a badger sett or being reckless that their actions would damage it.

They were both caught on camera by monitors of the League Against Cruel Sports, who filmed the Fernie Hunt on January 27.

Giving evidence, Mr Lomax said the presence of badger hair, dung and clumps of hay did not prove badgers were using the burrow where the fox was hiding.

Mr Lomax said: "There is an extremely large badger population in the area and a very large active sett nearby. I counted 55 holes and it showed obvious signs of occupation, freshly-dug soil, pad prints and bedding."

But he said the area which had been dug to get the fox was too close to the large sett to be permanently occupied.

He said badgers often scented their own disused setts with dung to scare off other badgers.

He said if the burrow was active he would have expected to see "handfuls of hair".

Mr Lomax, who is also a qualified barrister, visited the site four months after the incident.

The case continues