LOCAL MP Rebecca Pow and Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis have resigned as vice-presidents of the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

The pair took on the roles in 2015 but have stood down because of the row over their support for the badger cull.

A petition calling for the trust to remove them has gained 88,000 signatures.

The charity, which has a badger as its logo, said the honorary posts were awarded in recognition of their ‘significant contributions’ to environmental work and support for the charity.

The petition said having them in high-profile positions within the trust was a ‘betrayal of paying members’ and ‘counter-productive to the conservation movement.’

Ms Pow says she has been a member of the trust for more than 30 years and the decision had been ‘difficult.’

She said: “Although I have made the difficult decision to stand down as a vice-president, I will continue to work with the trust to the benefit of our natural world locally.”