The Government has let farmers down badly by failing to launch its new report on controlling the spread of bovine tuberculosis, according to a Westcountry farming leader.

Martin Howlett, deputy chairman of the NFU’s regional livestock board, said the Government was once again ducking the issue on tackling the disease.

Margaret Beckett, the Defra Secretary of State, had promised a report that should have been delivered by now, said Mr Howlett, who farms near Callington. “But now she says it will be next week. What’s the real timescale?”

He said that with bovine TB spreading fast through South West cattle herds, there was no way that farmers would spend another ten years trying to contain the disease, which was what had been suggested as a possible strategy.

“We see herds going down with it that have been clear for years,” he said. “Mrs Beckett says she wants farmers’ commitment on the pre-movement testing of cattle - but we have made it clear to her we want no part in that, unless there is also commitment by the Government to tackle realistically the wildlife vectors of this disease, and that means badgers. “We are not going to get a result with half measures.”

Mrs Beckett indicated that a ten-year strategic framework to control the cattle disease would be launched next week. A farmer-chaired stakeholder group had been set up to develop a practical proposal for testing cattle before they are sold or moved off farms in TB hot spot areas, she said.

“But, of course, badgers also pose a risk,” she added. “We shall be prepared to consider badger culling if the evidence supports it as a cost effective, proportionate and sustainable contribution to disease control.”