A high court judge has granted an injunction against badger cull protesters after lawyers representing the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said farmers had been targeted.
The order includes provisions preventing protesters entering private land without consent and protects farmers from threats and harassment. Anyone found to be in breach could face contempt of court proceedings.
This followed rumours the badger cull would begin on Monday 26 August, though no official confirmation was ever given.
A chief constable did at one point say the culls, set to take place in trial areas in Somerset and Gloucestershire with a reserve area in Dorset, would begin in August – though he later said this was a rough guide rather than an indication of a specific schedule.
But following a Guardian report that the badger cull start date had been set for 26 August, the NFU sought an injunction as they said farmers had already suffered “harassing activity”.
The injunction was granted on 22 August. NFU president Peter Kendall said he hoped it would prevent “unacceptable incidents of harassment”.
Jay Tiernan, a representative of the Coalition of Badger Action Groups, said he did not condone unlawful harassment, but that the injunction would not stop protests. He added: “We will use every available piece of legislation we can to make their lives a misery.”
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