MORE than 1,000 cattle were slaughtered in Dorset over the last year as incidents of TB continue to rise.

Statistics published by Defra reveal that the total number of animals slaughtered in the county from March 2015 to March 2016 was 1,067. This is an increase from 800 the previous year and a substantial rise from just 45 in 1996, 20 years ago.

A spokesman for the NFU south west said less than a year from the start of the badger cull in the county, it is too soon to see any impact. He added that the figures show how vital it is that the issue of TB is tackled.

The statistics show the number of registered herds in Dorset has almost halved in the past two decades, with 2,195 in 1996 and 1,255 today.

New herd incidents – where cattle were previously TB free but had an animal that reacted to a test or a tuberculous animal discovered by routine meat inspection – decreased slightly from 158 in the financial year 2014/15 to 155 in 2015/16.

In 1996 there were just 28 new incidents.

The figures mean 12 per cent of herds – more than one in eight - in Dorset is suffering a new TB outbreak every year. In 1996 the number was 1.2 per cent, or one in 83.

David George, of NFU south west, said: “It is too early to expect the badger cull to have any impact on the figures.

“What we look at in terms of statistics is the results of the randomised badger culling trials (RBCT). That shows a drop in incidents, but that did not happen for around a decade.

“We are playing the long game here, in terms of culling.”

The trials over 10 years reduced the incidence of TB by around 20 per cent, a figure Mr George said the NFU hopes to see in Dorset over the same period.

“Obviously the question is, is it worth it? We would say it is.

“As these figures show, in the long term, TB is rising. We have to do something about it.”

In December, Defra revealed that 756 badgers were killed in Dorset last year, the first year of the cull.

Natural England are currently consulting on applications for licences for another cull later this year, in Dorset and other regions.

The NFU believes the cull – as well as other ways of fighting TB such as restrictions on moving cattle – is essential for fighting the disease.

But others, including the Dorset Wildlife Trust, groups such as Dorset for Badger and Bovine Welfare and former Queen guitarist and wildlife campaigner Brian May have spoken out against it, saying vaccinating badgers is more effective.