A catch-and-kill offensive is being launched against the grey squirrel in Northumberland.

For 15 years a range of measures have been attempted to help the native red squirrel, which is being driven out by the imported grey.

These include supplementary feeding, tree planting schemes, the creation of 16 reserves and some trapping of greys.

But there is now a body of opinion that the only answer to saving the reds in their last English bastion of Northumberland is a cull of greys.

Now two groups have been formed - one funded to the tune of £149,000 by the Government - which cull greys and a third is process of being organised.

There are up to 2.5 million greys in England and around 20,000 to 30,000 reds, between 60% and 85% of which are thought to be in Northumberland.

Former military policeman Norris Atthey, 63, who lives in Ulgham, Northumberland, is setting up a group to cull greys and is currently distributing recruitment posters.

He said that other policies to help the reds had failed.

"If you want to keep the reds, it means the eradication of the greys," he said.

"The killing will be done legally but it has to be sustained and focused.

"Some people will be upset by the killing of greys, but the alternative is the slow death of the reds."

Lord Redesdale is a co-founder of the recently established Red Squirrel Protection Partnership (rspp.org.uk).

It operates in Northumberland, monitoring red squirrel areas. When greys are spotted, they are trapped and despatched.

Lord Redesdale said: "It is a contentious subject. The only purpose for our being is to kill grey squirrels, but it is not killing for the sake of it.

"I don't have a gun, I don't hunt, shoot or fish, but I am desperately keen to save the red squirrel and this is the only way to do it."

Lord Redesdale, who is Lib Dem spokesman in the House of Lords on agriculture and energy, added: "You can set up reserves, buffer zones, feeding and tree planting schemes but when the greys are coming through, the only thing you can do is to kill them."

He said that once greys enter a red area, it takes only a year for the native animals to vanish.

The extent of the spread of greys in Northumberland was highlighted by sightings at places such as Bellingham and Matfen. "We want people to monitor for greys and, if it is in an area in which we operate, we will catch and kill them," he said. "We have to be ruthless.

"If we are not successful, we are talking about the extinction of the reds in Northumberland within a decade."

Group set up as the protectors

Grey squirrel control is one of the functions of a group set up to protect reds in Ponteland and Darras Hall.

The Ponteland Save Our Squirrels organisation, led by Sally Hardy, Penny Hewitt and Margaret Stainsby, was started on the back of concerns over the decline of the reds population in the area over the last five years.

"We felt that if we did not try to stop the greys getting into the area within five years the whole area would be grey," said Sally.

"We do trap and despatch greys. It's a difficult subject because people don't like the thought of animals being killed, but if we want to save the reds.

"It is the only way because the greys and reds can't live together for any length of time."

The group is also organising a petition to Northumberland County Council calling for warning signs to reduce the number of reds killed by traffic.

The group's website is www.pontelandredsquirrels.co.uk

£626,000 lottery cash goes towards control measures

A £1.2m Save Our Squirrels programme is now underway in Northumberland and Cumbria.

Backed by £626,000 in Heritage Lottery Fund cash, the project is led by Carri Nicholson, who is based at Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

She said of the grey culling: "We are not tip-toeing around the issue. The funding conditions prohibited the directly trapping and despatching greys.

"But we can provide training, advice and support on trapping and we will be doing that," she said.

"The policy of the trust is that grey control is important for red squirrel conservation and we support the aims and objectives of the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership." She added: "We know that it causes pain to a lot of members.

"To a lot of people, all animal life is important and people who live in towns may never have seen a red squirrel and think that greys are engaging animals.

"But if we want to keep reds in England, we have to kill greys."

The SOS programme is setting up 16 red reserves in the North. But it is facing a significant grey presence at three reserves south of Corbridge at Slaley, and Dipton/Dukesfield and Healey/Kellas woodlands.

A spokesman for the Natural History Society of Northumbria said: " We support the basic principle that greys need to be controlled."