Badgers in Somerset are going to be shot by marksmen, the Government announced today.

An area near Taunton has been selected to pilot a badger cull in the autumn to try and stamp out TB in cattle.

Six-week trials in two areas - a site near Tewkesbury has also been chosen from a a shortlist put forward by the farming industry - will test the shooting of free-running badgers as part of efforts to tackle the disease which ministers say will cost taxpayers around £1 billion over the next 10 years if not dealt with effectively.

The pilot, which will be paid for by farmers, will test how safe, humane and effective “controlled shooting” of badgers is, the Environment Department (Defra) said, and if successful could lead to a wider cull of badgers.

Research shows that culling badgers can lead to a 16% reduction in new infections in herds.

While farmers and the Government have said a cull is necessary to tackle the disease, proposals to kill badgers – which are a protected species – have faced strong opposition from animal welfare and wildlife groups.

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said: “Bovine TB is a chronic and devastating disease. It causes the slaughter of tens of thousands of cattle each year, and is taking a terrible toll on our farmers and rural communities.

“Nobody wants to cull badgers. But no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too.”

Farmers and landowners in the pilot areas will now be able to apply for licences to Natural England as a group, with their application judged against a series of criteria before the licence is granted.

The first pilot area is mainly in the district of West Somerset and partly in Taunton Deane.

The second area is mainly within the Forest of Dean and Tewkesbury, and partly in the districts of Wychavon, Malvern Hills and West Gloucestershire.

In order to be granted a licence, those taking part must demonstrate a high level of competence in marksmanship and then complete a Government-approved course.

Farmers must comply with Government TB cattle controls, and implement biosecurity measures to minimise the spread of the disease.

There must already be a high incidence of TB in cattle in the area, which must be at least 150 square kilometres (60 square miles).

The group conducting the pilot must have access to at least 70% of that area.

And they must take reasonable measures to reduce the risk of badgers moving around in response to a cull, potentially spreading the disease to the surrounding areas, for example by culling up to natural barriers such as rivers or by vaccinating badgers outside the cull area.

Mr Paice said: "These two pilots are just part of a wide range of activity on bovine TB.

“We already have robust measure to control its spread amongst cattle, which we plan to strengthen further and continuing to work hard on the development of practical and usable vaccines.”

He said an independent panel of experts would monitor and evaluate the pilot culling, led by Professor Christopher Wathes, professor of animal welfare at the Royal Veterinary College.

Prof Wathes said: “Badger culling is a very sensitive issue which is why this group will be completely independent in the work they conduct.

“I will be joined by a selection of experts from a range of disciplines and our job will be to carefully consider the design and conduct of the pilots to enable a thorough examination of the humaneness, safety and effectiveness of the culling method being used.”

But Mary Creagh, shadow environment secretary, said: “For a cull to work it has to be cost-effective, humane and reduce bovine TB.

“The Government’s plans will achieve none of those things. This big society badger cull will cost farmers more than it saves them, put a huge strain on police, and will spread bovine TB in the short term as badgers move out of cull areas.

“At the end of the cull, 84% of the TB problem will still remain.”

David Bowles, RSPCA Director of Communications, said:  "The RSPCA is devastated that the government is ploughing on with plans to kill badgers.  This cull will be of little help in reducing the disease and could actually make things worse in some areas.

“It will wipe out huge numbers of this much-loved species, virtually eliminating badgers from these areas, including many animals which are healthy.

 "We also believe that devolving power to farmers or non-statutory bodies could make the issues involved with culling badgers worse.

“It could also end up being very expensive for the farmers. According to Defra’s own impact assessment, it could end up costing farmers more than an outbreak of bovine TB on their farm would.

“The consultation document admitted that farmers could be left with a net cost, which means that the process would ultimately cost them rather than save them money. Some farmers could end up spending more money over a four-year period than an incident of bovine TB might cost them.”

Mr Bowles added:  “In a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wildlife and in conversation earlier this week, the minister said that vaccination was the long term exit strategy. We still believe that the government should be focussing its attention on being able to deliver a vaccination strategy rather than on culling badgers.”