Hundreds of vets have signed an open letter to the government calling for a targeted cull of badgers in the West.

They believe it is the only way to stop the spread of the cattle disease and Britain losing its TB-free status.

Roger Muirhead, who made the diagnosis in 1971, denied the letter would become an election issue.

He said: "It is a problem that any minister dealing with agriculture is going to have to deal with.

"We have known about this for more than 30 years."

National Farmers' Union south west director, Anthony Gibson, added that the governent should not ignore the advice.

"Mrs Beckett and Defra can have no justification whatsoever in ignoring such expert advice by continuing to avoid any action and hiding behind a fatally flawed scientific study."

The letter says the effective controls imposed by Defra's predecessor, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, were replaced by piecemeal measures in 1996.