When animal welfare minister Elliot Morley ordered the slaughter of a badger family to protect homes, he must have known he would have a fight on his hands.

Little could he have imagined the sheer intensity of local feeling against the cull.

Hours after we revealed how the 12 or so creatures were to be trapped and shot, a crowd of protesters had gathered in the usually peaceful estate in Saltdean.

They stayed there through driving rain and lashing gales, refusing to move until the animals' futures were safe.

There was a morning of heartbreak when it was announced two of the badgers had already been caught and shot.

But today, The Argus is delighted to report this grass-roots demonstration appears to have been a success.

Not only will Defra take a second look at its options but police said they had never before encountered such a good-natured and peaceful protest.

The campaigners have won the day and emerged with great credit.

What remains is for the experts to find a sensible solution to a genuine problem for some of the residents without setting a dangerous slash-and-burn precedent to its policy on urban wildlife management.