28/02/2014 BBC Points West

BBC News Channel. Now on BBC One, it's time for the news where you

are. Good evening.

Experts called in to assess the badger cull in the West Country have

concluded it was ineffective and too many animals suffered. The panel was

appointed by ministers to evaluate last autumn's culling in

Gloucestershire and Somerset. In a moment, we'll speak to our political

editor Paul Barltrop, but first he has this report.

For the cull's opponents, today s revelations have strengthened their

resolve. How much proof do you need that this

won't work? It's a botched scheme. They were warned wouldn't work. The

top scientist Lord Krebs said it was a crazy scheme that was never going

to work or make life easier for farmers.

Climatic Our predictions have borne out. We warned this was a costly

distraction from the business of controlling cattle TB. We warned it

risked making things worse. . So, how did it come to this? The

cull followed decades of more and more cattle succumbing to

tuberculosis. The disease can be spread between cows, and by other

species including badgers. There were culling trials from 1997 to

2006 ` when scientists concluded it wasn't worth it. But a change of

government brought a change of policy. Today, Andrew Guest was one

of the few cull supporters willing to talk. The Forest of Dean farmer

has had repeated outbreaks of Bovine TB. He saw some of the culling and

doesn't think it was inhumane. I witnessed it on a number of

occasions, and every time the animal was dispatched quickly and cleanly.

The British Veterinary Association, today, said it couldn't support the

cull if it wasn't humane. But a Gloucestershire vet who was involved

advises caution: My own reaction is, no, I wouldn't

stop the cull, but if lessons are to be learnt, then learn those lessons

in order to improve performance for next year.

The fate of the badgers lies with the government, who today said they

wouldn't yet commen And Paul joins me now.

Paul, how significant is this? This is a really crucial moment

We've been waiting to hear the result for some time. These

scientists were appointed by the government, by the government's own

criteria ` was a humane, safe and effective? It was safe, but in terms

of effectiveness it failed by a considerable margin. Over six weeks,

less than half the badgers were killed. It was meant to be 70%. It

also failed to meet humaneness target ` badgers were taking too

long to die. The government are not saying anything today. There is a

lot of silence. They are waiting until the report is officially

submitted. The National Farmers Union are also keeping tight`lipped.

It's a real dilemma for ministers, because a lot of these measures are

uncontroversial and probably having some benefits. But the culling is

attracting some controversy. Experts are saying it's not humane, not

effective and also very costly. Some scientists are saying it could

potentially make things worse. I do very much. `` thank you very much.

The police in Bristol have been carrying out extra operations to

catch kerb crawlers. It follows more than a hundred complaints from

people living in the fish ponds area of the city. Officers are working

closely with the 125 Charity and the Bristol Drugs Project trying to help

sex workers find alternatives to life on the street.

It's now more than two months since we began reporting on the flooding

on the Somerset Levels. Earlier this week, we saw farmers returning to

their farms to see the damage the water has done to their businesses.

Tonight, we follow one couple ` Malcolm and Julie Shovel ` as they

returned to their Fordgate home for the very first time.

We were in the house in January when we had early signs that the

Northmoor was going to flood, but I never appreciated that it was going

to ever get to this level. This is our front room. This is the tide

mark, here. It was up here. When it started to come up, it was coming

back every day, and seeing it six inches higher, and six inches

higher. It was a question of, when is it going to stop? This is our

kitchen. I retired in 2011, and used some of my money then to put the

kitchen in. It's swollen so much you can't even open the door. That's the

cutlery drawer. To see everything as disgusting as

this, now, with all this mould ` home is gone. I loved this house. I

don't any more. That is the floor. That's how high

the floor has risen through the oak swelling. It's stagnant water,

effectively. In some ways, you say the community is probably a little

bit stronger because we have more in common now. But it just ripped the

heart out of it ` there's a lot of people I've talked to who don't want

to come home because when will this, or will this happen again? They

don't want to come here. Bath Rugby have lost at home for the

first time this season, beaten 3 points to ten by second`placed

Saracens in the Premiership. Bath's points came from the boot of George

Ford and a penalty try. It leaves Bath third in the table.

That's just about all from me, Newsnight's in Kiev over on BBC Two,

as Russian troops spread into Ukraine, Now, here's the weather

with Ian Fergusson. Hello, a very good evening to you.

The best of the weekend will be Saturday ` generally a dry day with

a fair amount of sunshine around. By contrast, Sunday will be a cloudy

day, turning windier and eventually wetter, as well. Tonight, we are

going to see clear skies with temperatures dropping down to ` or

`2. The threat of ice, particularly across some of these southern

central areas, and some fog, particularly in parts of

Gloucestershire, but you might find patches about elsewhere. As we clear

that away tomorrow morning, there will be a good amount of sunshine

around. A fair amount of cloud developing under light winds, as the

day wears on. Most of you staying dry, with more cloud out towards the

West. Perhaps during the afternoon, one or two showers, or showery

outbreaks of rain. I think they ll be a rarity, even in parts of

Somerset. You see perhaps one or two of those ` moderately heavy.

Temperatures tomorrow getting up to about seven or eight. Here's a look

at the outlook: turning wet and windy later on Sunday, and unsettled

into the start of next week. It could get better after that. Here's

a look at your national forecast. weekend summary for London. Now time

for the National forecast. Good evening, if you are a

meteorologist, tomorrow is the first day of spring. But mother nature has

little regard for such labels. That is one explanation for why spring

starts with a touch of frost and fog. Sunny spells on Saturday before

outbreaks of rain from the West on