Serious criticism of the government's trial badger culls has grown in volume since Natural England announced late on Wednesday that the Gloucestershire cull company had been granted its request to extend badger culling by eight weeks. The trials form part of Defra's bovine TB eradication strategy, but critics have branded the policy "unscientific" and "a costly distraction" from cattle-based measures to curb the disease.

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The extension, longer than the initial trial period, was granted after markspeople in the Gloucestershire cull zone only managed to kill 30 percent of the estimated badger population (less than half their target) over six weeks, and amid warnings that  a longer period of culling could exacerbate perturbation (driving sick badgers out into surrounding areas, potentially spreading disease further).

Newly appointed shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle criticised Defra on Thursday morning for failing to put a minister up for questioning by the BBC over the deeply controversial extension, or discuss the matter in parliament. She took to Twitter to call Defra ministers "cowards".

Eagle's Twitter posts follow official criticism of environment secretary Owen Paterson on Wednesday, when she said, "It is Owen Paterson who is now moving the goalposts on his failed culling policy, not the badgers as he ridiculously claimed. Extending the length of these trials is nothing more than an attempt to rig the outcome to achieve what is clearly his pre-determined conclusion. The Government should now abandon this unscientific and misguided approach to the vital task of eradicating TB from cattle."

Natural England said on Wednesday that it was acting on guidance from Defra's Chief Veterinary Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser in granting the extension. However, last week David MacDonald, chair of Natural England's Science Advisory Committee and an Oxford University professor, recommended culling be halted immediately.

Over the weekend, whilst NE was still considering the Gloucestershire cull company's request, Badger Trust lawyers sent a letter before action, informing the licensing body and Defra that it would challenge the eight week extension in the courts.

The Trust accused Defra Chief Veterinary Officer Nigel Gibbens of making U-turns and contradictory statements; the Trust said Gibbens had told BBC's Farming Today on Wednesday that six weeks was "a good target to start with," having previously stated that six weeks should be the maximum length of time for culling (including in the Court of Appeal, when defending a challenge brought by the Badger Trust before culling got underway).

During the Randomised Badger Culling Trials, which informed much of Defra's policy, culling was conducted over a period of 8-11 nights. The RBCT Trials' architects have warned that extending culling could have the opposite effect to that intended.

The licensing body confirmed on Wednesday that "licence holders will be paying for the costs of any additional culling," though the Badger Trust complained that the public would bear the burden of added policing costs resulting from the extension.

 "The fiascos in Somerset and Gloucestershire, with escalating police costs, are just the precursors to a rollout covering 40 areas up to the end of 2017," said a spokesperson for the Trust. "They could even involve gassing, already considered as inhumane, to wipe out a protected and iconic species."

"All the failures and confusion surrounding the 'pilot culls' add up to a formula for political suicide in the future."

Surveys carried out over the past fortnight reveal that the majority of the public, both rural and urban, rejects the cull and believes Defra has failed in its objectives. Sir David Attenborough, a vocal critic of the cull, was also highly critical of the government on Wednesday. He asked, "Why do they [Defra] spend a lot of time and money doing careful scientific studies and then simply ignore the results?"

Sir David added, "They decided to have a six-week [cull] and when they don't get the result they want, they want to extend by eight weeks. It is simply not believing in the science."