Queen guitarist Brian May tonight issues a fresh call to end the badger cull – and reveals his plan to prevent cattle contracting TB.

The rock legend-turned animal rights activist has long campaigned against the annual Government-backed killing programme.

He renewed his call for a halt to the rural bloodshed after ministers unveiled plans to slaughter nearly 63,000 of the creatures across England's countryside this autumn.

His Save Me Trust charity has launched a petition calling for a public inquiry into the “inhumane, ineffective, financially unsustainable” cull.