The High Court has rejected an emergency legal challenge filed by Brian May's Save Me organisation earlier this week. Save Me had sought to halt the trial badger cull in Gloucestershire, which was extended in October.

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The former Queen guitarist's wildlife charity was seeking an urgent judicial review of Natural England's decision to extend badger culling in Gloucestershire by eight weeks after the cull company failed to meet its targets in the initial six week period. The Gloucestershire company failed to kill even half of its intended target of 1,600 badgers.

However, the Court rejected the call for an emergency review on Wednesday, stating that the issue was not a matter of urgency, as over a month of the extension has already passed. Even so, a review could still be carried out at a later date.

Sitting Deputy Judge of the High Court, Mr C M G Ockelton said, "The decision under challenge was [made] on 23 October, and of the eight weeks 'extension' authorised by it five have already run. It is not easy to see why there is now urgency, save because of the consequences of the cold weather, said to have led to ill-treatment of badgers."

He continued, "I appreciate that the refusal of this application may mean that the challenge becomes academic, but the application might have had a different result if made immediately after the grant of the licence."

Save Me's representative John Cooper QC filed the challenge on the grounds that Natural England's decision went against the advice of its own scientific advisor, Professor David Macdonald, and that the decision was made without consulting the independent panel charged with assessing the two trial culls.

A second cull in Somerset was granted a three week extension some weeks earlier, but Defra Secretary Owen Paterson revealed on 5th November that markspeople in Somerset had still failed to meet their target of killing 70 percent of the estimated local badger population. The effect of the culls on bovine TB will not be measured in either the cattle or badger populations.

In October, Defra's Chief Scientific Offer declined to comment on the contested extension before he had seen the Independent Experts Report, which, according to Save Me's legal team, means Natural England's decision "was made without taking reference to the Independent Experts' Assessment."

Professor Macdonald, head of Natural England's Scientific Committee, had stated that the government's view that killing more badgers would lead to better disease control was "not easily reconciled with the evidence".

John Cooper QC, said on Tuesday, "From the material I have seen already, it is clear that appropriate procedures have not been taken in relation to this action," but on Wednesday, Save Me sources said the Court's rejection did not come as a surprise.

Reacting to the Court's decision on Wednesday, Save Me spokesperson Anne Bummer said, "We will be looking at renewing the application and in doing so forcing Natural England to admit that there is no way in which this cull will meet its targets and should be halted immediately. In that regard, we continue to make significant progress towards stopping this unethical, unscientific and pointless cull."

David Wells from Wells Burcomb Solicitors also commented, "The decision is obviously disappointing for all those concerned in the move to stop the execution of our endeared badger population. The decision is a setback, but not the end of the matter.

"This issue is generating a lot of support, not just from those concerned with animal welfare but from those more scientifically and statistically informed. I do not agree with the decision at all. The main objective now is to prevent further nationwide expansion of the culling process and in this respect the fight will continue."