VOTE: Do you agree with the badger cull?

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said this was necessary to “get it right” and the “optimal time” for this year had passed.

Government plans would have seen several thousand badgers shot to try too reduce levels of bovine tuberculosis.

Mr Paterson told MPs the cull should have begun this summer but had been delayed until after the Olympics and Paralympics, with bad weather also hampering preparations.

The government’s plan is based on findings from a nine-year trial which showed the spread of the disease could be slowed if more than 70% of badgers in an area could be eradicated.

Are you in favour of the cull taking place next year - or do you want to save our badgers?