The Government has announced it wants England to be “TB free” by 2038 and set out a plan to achieve this.

This includes continuing to strengthen cattle movement controls and a grant-funded scheme for badger vaccination projects in the “edge area” at the frontier of the disease - although badger culls still play a part, with improvements also set out for the four-year badger cull pilots in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said that a series of changes would be made to “improve the effectiveness, humaneness and safety” of culling, as a result of recent recommendations from an independent panel.

Mr Paterson said: “The four-year culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire are pilots and we always expected to learn lessons from them. It is crucial we get this right. That is why we are taking a responsible approach, accepting recommendations from experts to make the pilots better.

“Doing nothing is not an option. Bovine TB is a terrible disease which is devastating our cattle and dairy industries and causing misery for many people in rural communities. We need to do everything we can, as set out in our strategy, to make England TB free.”

Changes to the pilot culls will include more extensive training for contractors carrying out the cull, better planning by the licensed companies to ensure culling is spread evenly across all land available and better data collection to assess progress.

A new service will also be trialled in Somerset and Gloucestershire giving farmers advice on how to better protect their farms from disease.

The Government has said it will also continue to invest in developing a new vaccine for cattle, which could be field tested next year, and an oral badger vaccine which it would look to have available for use by 2019.

However, the National Farmers Union has responded by saying farmers would be “bitterly disappointed” in the decision not to roll out badger culls in other areas where TB remained “persistent and high.”

NFU president Meurig Raymond thanked everyone who helped manage and deliver the badger cull pilots.

He said: “Importantly, the independent expert panel has found this method of culling badgers by controlled shooting can be safe with best practice followed, even with the presence of protestors. While we don't agree with all of the assumptions made in the independent expert panel report, and we are concerned it paints a picture that is not recognised by those on the ground, we will need to examine the report in more detail.

“Statistics released by Defra show there were 4,815 new herds infected with TB in 2013 in Great Britain, with 32,620 cattle slaughtered in an attempt to control the disease.”