THE Court of Appeal heard claims yesterday that the government acted unlawfully by allowing the latest badger culls to go ahead without monitoring by an independent expert panel (IEP).

The Badger Trust is asking the court to rule that there was a “legitimate expectation” that an IEP would be put in place.

The challenge arises from a decision to sanction a second year of “controlled shooting” of free-roaming badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

The government and farmers claim that culling is necessary to tackle TB in livestock.

Opponents say it is inhumane and ineffective and that alternatives such as vaccination should be pursued.

Last year an IEP reported that controlled shooting could not deliver the level of culling needed to bring about a reduction in bovine TB and was not humane.

Defra decided to continue the programme this year without an IEP in place.

The Trust is appealing a previous High Court ruling that the government had not breached a substantive legitimate expectation that an IEP would monitor the entire pilot cull.