Groups involved in the fight to save the badgers of Saltdean are awaiting a surveyor's report into the extent of damage the animals have caused.

Officials from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), badger groups, city councillors and Labour MP Des Turner met yesterday to discuss the situation.

The badgers are blamed for damaging homes in Saltdean and faced slaughter until campaigners forced an about-turn.

A crowd of about 40 people, angry about being excluded from the closed meeting at Brighton Town Hall, had feared representatives from Defra would renege on an agreement to halt the cull.

Defra had issued a licence to four households in Saltdean giving them permission to cull a family of 12 badgers earlier this month.

Two of the animals were trapped and shot before Defra suspended the cull following public outrage.

Yesterday Defra officials held the meeting to discuss ways of dealing with the badgers without killing them.

The groups are now waiting for a report from a chartered surveyor, commissioned recently by Defra, as recommended by the National Federation of Badger Groups, (NFBG) and others into the damage the animals have caused.

During the meeting a number of alternative solutions to the culling of the badgers were presented to Defra.

Dr Elaine King, chief executive of the NFBG, was disappointed a solution was not found yesterday.

She said: "Despite a constructive exchange we have unfortunately not reached a conclusion today as Defra has not provided the background information necessary for a fully informed debate."