Queen guitarist and campaigner Brian May has met St Albans MP Anne Main to discuss the ongoing controversial pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

The politician recently weighed into the debate over the cull, calling upon the Government to allow members to vote before extending the programme.

Anne has been supported by other MPs, with over 145 signing an early day motion (EDM) spearheaded by her, stating that once pilot culls have been completed, the Secretary of State should come back before the Commons, state the results of the cull and have a vote on any extension of it.

She said that since the EDM was tabled the pilot badger cull has not hit its target number, and has thus been extended.

Anne met with Brian, who has opposed the cull, yesterday (Tuesday) to discuss the issue.

She said: “Parliament needs to have another say on these culls. We cannot allow a protected species to continue to be culled when the scientific evidence for it is questionable.

“Every MP has a duty to ask what is going on and try and find robust reasons for supporting it – if they cannot, then they should not.”

Anne was prompted to question the badger cull, particularly the humaneness of the pilot scheme, following discussions with St Albans residents concerned about it.