People in Lanark are told to stop feeding badgers immediately

​Over recent years the problem with badgers has steadily increased to the extent that more setts are being dug all over the cemetery, creating major risks as their burrowing activities are now undermining some of the cemeteries larger headstones.

Kevin Carr, the council’s head of Facilities, Waste and Grounds Services, said: “Badgers digging in the cemetery area has now reached a potentially dangerous level and may also cause upset to people who have relatives interred at that location.

“Badgers are very well protected so the council will be working with Nature Scot once the breeding season finishes in June, to look at appropriate ways to mitigate the damage these animals are causing in the cemetery.

“We appreciate people may be well intended, however we urge anyone who is leaving out food for the badgers to stop as this will greatly help with the problem which has now reached a serious level.”

Feeding badgers also feeds foxes and it is a bad idea to have animals that can be dangerous losing their fear of humans, even to the point of becoming reliant on us for the provision of their food.

John Darbyshire, local ecologist and badger expert, said: “The damage badgers can do can be prodigious and they can literally cause a building, road or railway to subside. So, I recommend that everyone who is feeding the badgers now, in Lanark, to stop.”

Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. As such anything which might interfere with a badger sett is illegal and will require a licence.

NatureScot said: “Badgers are generally very shy and secretive creatures, which usually coexist peacefully with humans. But on rare occasions badgers can cause damage to gardens, crops or property.

In most cases, this can be resolved by ensuring that badgers can’t access the affected area. If this isn’t possible, and if serious damage might occur to the property, we may be able to issue a licence to prevent such damage.