FEARS OF FATALITIES IN BADGER CULL CLASHES

POLICE feared that protesters could be killed amid clashes over the controversial badger cull, former Deputy Chief Constable Paul Netherton admitted.

He was charged with coordinating the police’s response to the cull which started in 2013 in Somerset and Gloucestershire, before being rolled out across much of the country.

“Policing is always challenging and policing something like the badger cull or fox hunting is always a professional challenge, you have people that are incredibly passionate on either side of the argument and the job of the police is to walk the tight rope between the two,” he said.

“It is about allowing protests but at the same time allowing lawful activity and you will be complained about and shouted at by many different sides – I have been, both personally and professionally.

“From a policing perspective, it involved a lot of police officers, costing a lot of money across the South West.

“But through cooperation, though partnership working, through negotiation and talks with protesters, farmers, the NFU and government, we managed to deliver a policing operation across 17 forces.

“No one has been killed, which is what we were really worried about to begin with, that people would be shot and protesters would be injured and there would be serious disruption to our communities.

“Disruption has occurred on occasion but most of the time it has gone very successfully.”

The Government announced earlier this year that mass culling of badgers will stop after 2022.