A LEGAL ruling blocking a badger cull in Wales is a "severe setback" for tackling bovine TB which has blighted livestock farmers in Devon, according to the National Farmers' Union.

The NFU said that the quashing of the controversial order by the Court of Appeal would be a "very bitter pill" for many farmers.

Details of the judgment, which upheld an appeal by the Badger Trust against the Welsh Assembly's plans to trap and shoot badgers in West Wales, are now being studied closely for their implications for a targeted cull in England.

It is expected that Devon would be included in any badger cull as it is a "hot spot" for bovine TB.

The Welsh cull was among measures, including stricter controls on cattle, intended to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from North Pembrokeshire and neighbouring parts of Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

Lord Justice Pill said the Welsh Assembly was wrong to make an order for the whole of Wales when it consulted on the basis of an Intensive Action Pilot Area which only supported a cull.

The Westminster-based coalition Government, which pledged to introduce "a carefully managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine tuberculosis", is now studying the judgment carefully.

A spokesman for the South West NFU said: "It's bitterly disappointing. It's a very complicated judgment and we are still going through it in detail.

"It is yet another setback in what's a very long-running saga which doesn't benefit wildlife, cattle, or farmers."

A Defra spokesman said: "We will look at the judgment in detail."

He added: "The Government remains committed to carefully managed and science-led badger control as part of a package of measures, and we're looking carefully at badger vaccination and culling as part of that."

Responding to the ruling, the RSPCA said it was delighted the appeal had been allowed.