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Policing badger cull in Gloucestershire 'cost £1.7m' Policing badger cull cost '£1,377 per badger'
(about 2 hours later)
The cost of policing the badger cull in Gloucestershire has been confirmed at "around £1.7m", the county's police and crime commissioner has said. The total cost of policing the badger cull pilot has been confirmed as nearly £2.5m - or about £1,377 per badger.
The government pilot, which also ran in Somerset, aimed to kill 70% of the badgers to test how effective, humane and safe a cull could be. In Gloucestershire, police and crime commissioner (PCC) Martin Surl tweeted the cost as "around £1.7m", while Avon and Somerset chief constable Nick Gargan said their costs were £738,985.
Ministers believe culling badgers will curb TB in cattle. A total of 1,771 badgers were killed by marksmen - 921 in Gloucestershire and 850 in Somerset.
But those against the cull say shooting the animals is not a good way to control TB. One charity earlier estimated the total cost to be £4,121 per animal.
The figures, from Care for the Wild, revealed £2.6m was spent policing the cull, farmers' costs were £1.49m, and the cost to the government was £3.2m - which meant a cost of £4,121 for each animal killed.
'Public confidence''Public confidence'
The figures were released by PCC Martin Surl on Twitter. who said the £1.7m estimate represented the cost of policing the entire cull and "not just the extension". The government pilot aimed to kill 70% of the badgers to test how effective, humane and safe a cull could be.
Government ministers believe killing badgers will curb TB in cattle but opponents argue shooting is not the best way to eradicate the disease.
The Gloucestershire figures were released by PCC Martin Surl on Twitter, who said the £1.7m estimate represented the cost of policing the entire cull and "not just the extension".
Mr Surl said there had been a huge amount of public interest in the figures.Mr Surl said there had been a huge amount of public interest in the figures.
"I just managed to get them into a state which I think are fairly robust," Mr Surl said."I just managed to get them into a state which I think are fairly robust," Mr Surl said.
"I wanted to release them as soon as I could - it's a matter of public confidence.""I wanted to release them as soon as I could - it's a matter of public confidence."
In total 921 badgers were killed in Gloucestershire, making the cost of policing the cull there more than £1,800 per badger. He added it was now for politicians in Westminster to decide whether it was a cost they were content with.
The pilot cull area also included part of Somerset. Costs 'vastly outweighted'
Nick Gargan, the chief constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, tweeted he hoped to be able to release a figure "by Friday". Mr Gargan, the chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police, originally said he would release the figures on Friday.
But he later revealed the cost to be £738,985 for both the original cull period and the extension.
Both Avon and Somerset Police and Gloucestershire Police previously refused to answer Freedom of Information requests from the BBC over the cost of policing the cull.Both Avon and Somerset Police and Gloucestershire Police previously refused to answer Freedom of Information requests from the BBC over the cost of policing the cull.
In declining, both organisations said they "did not have the most up-to-date costs available" and that they "intended to publish the figures in the future". In a statement, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the costs of the badger cull pilots were "vastly outweighed by the impact that bovine TB is having on our farming industry and taxpayers".
In a statement, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said the costs of the badger cull pilots were "vastly outweighed by the impact that bovine TB is having on our farming industry and taxpayers".
"Each bovine TB cattle outbreak costs an average £34,000, and if left unchecked this disease will cost the taxpayer £1bn over the next 10 years," it said."Each bovine TB cattle outbreak costs an average £34,000, and if left unchecked this disease will cost the taxpayer £1bn over the next 10 years," it said.