A petition to protect badgers from culling which was launched on the Cornwall Council website earlier this year is now being used as part of a national petitioning campaign called ‘Operation Badger’ which extends from Cumbria to Kent and from Northumberland to Cornwall.

Almost 50 petitions to local councils are now running and collecting signatures on line; more petitions are being established daily.

Husband and wife team Norma and George Kearton, who set up the original petition  from their home in St Austell, are now helping and advising “Badger Champions” from all across England and Wales.

And the trail-blazing Cornwall Council petition is now at the stage where, according to Cornwall Council’s petition scheme, it will be shortly discussed by the Council’s Oversight and Scrutiny Committee.

George Kearton said today; “The Cornwall Council petition scheme is very clear that a petition with over 1,000 signatures will be discussed by the Scrutiny Committee and we are looking forward, very much to that next stage of the scheme being put into operation”.

Norma Kearton added “the Cornwall petition is still, of course, open for signing and we hope that as many people as possible who live, work or study in Cornwall will add their signatures to those of the 1,300+ people who have already done so”.

Norma and George are also looking at the possibility of extending local petitions to all of  the 213 parish councils in Cornwall.