POLICE were called to more than 100 incidents during this year’s six-week badger cull in Somerset, officers have revealed.

Avon and Somerset Police say they acted on 108 incident reports, which included nine of violence, six of criminal damage to vehicles, one of criminal damage to a camera, and two of malicious communications.

The majority of reports – 69 – related to theft of or damage to badger cage traps.

The figures were released in the same week the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs announced that the cull in Somerset, which took place in September and October, had passed its target for the number of badgers killed.

In total, 341 badgers were killed, say DEFRA; 147 by controlled shooting and 194 by cage trapping.

The cull in Gloucestershire, however, failed to meet DEFRA’s minimum target of 615.

The cullers only managed to kill 247 badgers – less than half the target number.

DEFRA put the failure down to “the challenges of extensive unlawful protest and intimidation”.

The culls aim to tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

Environment Secretary Liz Truss has announced the publication of a Biosecurity Action Plan, which aims to prevent the spreading of bTB to cattle through continued culling, tighter cattle movement controls and vaccination.

She said: “The Chief Vet’s advice is that results of this year’s cull in Somerset show they can be effective.

“That is why I am determined to continue with a comprehensive strategy that includes culling.”

The Nation Farmers Union has also called for further culling.

However, Adrian Coward, chair of the Somerset Badger Group, said: “The cull performance is far from a success and no amount of hype will change the facts.

“It’s a miserable waste of time and public money, it divides our communities, it decimates a protected species and it alienates farmers, who deserve a sustainable solution, not a political diversion.”

The figures from DEFRA show no badger killed took longer than five minutes to die.

Both pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucester carried out in 2013 failed to meet the set targets.