BRIAN May has called a former MP a liar over claims that the badger cull is working.

The Queen guitarist and founder of the anti-cull Save Me Trust has called former Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs secretary Owen Paterson a liar over claims there has been an "extraordinary reduction" in bovine TB disease levels in the Somerset and Gloucestershire pilot areas.

He has also hit out at NFU president Meurig Raymond who has highlighted the "dramatic reduction" in disease levels in cull areas as evidence the cull is working.

Dr May said: “Calling an ex-minister a liar is, of course, a very serious accusation, but it is an inescapable conclusion. Much more serious is the fact that Owen Paterson is apparently misrepresenting the facts to the farming community, giving them false hope that killing badgers will solve their TB problem. We, the public, of course, continue to foot the bill for this cruel, misguided, and ultimately doomed policy.”

Dorset is one of three counties alongside Gloucestershire and Somerset where culling began in September.

Professor Lord Krebs, who oversaw the Randomised Badger Culling Trial as chief scientific advisor has called the claims "simply not true".