A GROUP of animal lovers collected hundreds of signatures protesting against the badger cull in Kidderminster last week.

Members of the Wyre Forest Vegans and Veggie (WFVV) held a stall outside the town hall on Thursday, August 28 asking shoppers to sign postcards to be sent to environment minister Liz Truss asking her to end the cull.

Last week it was announced Natural England had authorised the killing of up to 1,091 badgers in Gloucestershire and 785 in Somerset in an effort to halt the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

WFVV communications officer Ronald Lee said hundreds had visited their stall last week.

"Last year about 1,500 badgers were shot in Gloucestershire and Somerset, with many of them reported to have undergone considerable suffering before dying,” he said.

"The cull is being carried out under the pretext of preventing bovine TB, but there is overwhelming evidence that it will not do this and could even help to spread the disease.

"In reality, it is just another excuse to kill wildlife by the gun-toting bloodsports brigade.”

For more information on WFVV visit www.wyreforestvegansandveggies@gmail.com.