Badger culling will be rolled out in 11 new parts of England after ministers gave the green light to expanding a crackdown on the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.

The Government has issued new licences for culling to cover parts of Devon, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Cheshire.

It has also given permission for more culling to take place in areas of Gloucestershire and Somerset which have already completed four years of pilot culls.

The announcement by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has sparked fury among animal rights campaigners who said the decision to expand the cull was “flying in the face of science”.

The Government argues the culls are necessary to curb TB in cattle as badgers can transmit the disease to livestock, but opponents say it is inhumane and ineffective.