My house is at the forefront of the recent demonstrations against Defra's action to cull local badgers.

We have lived here for 25 years and, throughout that time, I have put in hundreds of man-hours and a considerable amount of money in order to adapt my garden to allow badgers to go about their business while minimising the damage they cause.

The only price we have paid other than that has been the frustration of having to put dug-up plants back occasionally.

This has been offset by the reward of being able to watch the badgers feed and even gather material to take back to the sett for a change of bedding.

The first I knew of the intended cull was The Argus front-page headline announcing "Execution" (October 9).

At that moment, I knew all hell would be let loose. What I could not have imagined was how it would so deeply and traumatically affect me and my wife, neither of whom was involved in the scheme to have the badgers removed.

At a very early stage of the demonstrations, I was made aware from a reliable source, subsequently confirmed by people to whom I spoke in the crowd, that I was being named as the instigator of the action.

Not only that - I was also co-ordinating and progressing the action. Apparently, the story went, I had the ability to pull the right strings.

Having lived with the badgers for 25 years and adapting my fairly large garden to accommodate both us and them, having had the thrill of watching young children gaze at them in wonder through my patio doors and having watched each year's new badgers come along with their families, you may imagine our feelings when we became aware of the rumour.

It matters not whether it stemmed from mindless gossip or malicious intent.

I now know the vast majority of the people involved in the protest are aware of my true position on the matter because I worked to make sure they did.

My purpose in writing is to try to show how easy it is for people to be unfairly implicated when matters that are so sensitive are handled badly by a government department.

-P Rodgers, Lustrells Crescent, Saltdean