BADGERS killed on the roads of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire showed more evidence of TB than three other counties in the survey.

The accident survey, carried out on the advice of, and supervised by, the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, was designed to establish whether the level of bovine TB infection in dead badgers, collected from road accidents, reflected disease prevalence in the badger population in the area.

The survey was carried out in Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Shropshire and Dorset were also targeted as comparison counties. On average, around one in seven was diseased.

The data collected can be used to estimate prevalence at county level. In general, M. Bovis infection in badgers was higher in the northern group than in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.

Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said: "These findings show that even in those parts of the country worst affected by Bovine TB, most badgers test negative for the disease. They also show no clear correlation between the levels of TB in cattle and badgers."