Labour just quietly launched another attack on the British countryside

The Government’s plan to ban lead shot is more about appearances than land managers’ needs, a gamekeeping expert said. Labour announced the outlawing of lead ammunition for rifles and shotguns in July last year.

Environment minister Emma Hardy said banning the toxic substance would help reverse river pollution and Britain’s declining birdlife. Copper shot is being promoted as an alternative, but experts argue it is more dangerous than lead.

Kenneth Stephen from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association told the Telegraph that unlike lead, copper ammunition can ricochet off trees and come back towards people.

He described it as “a human safety issue”, adding another animal not targeted could also be wounded by ricocheting shot.

Being more malleable, lead spreads on impact so is said to be the lethal option compared to copper, which Mr Stephen said can travel through one animal and hit another.

The expert said: “I think the Government has looked more at perceived optics than what real, everyday working land managers require.”

The British Association of Shooting Conservation told the publication it has reservations about the management of deer as some smaller deer rifles don’t work as well with copper ammo.

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A Government spokesperson said the lead ban would help protect precious birdlife and clean up Britain’s rivers.

They said alternatives to lead are readily available and widely used. The spokesperson said the Government would work with the shooting sector on a smooth transition.

The new measures will ban shot containing more than 1% lead and bullets with a lead content above 3%.

With limited exemptions, such ammunition will no longer be sold to the public under the Government’s plan.

Wildlife groups, including the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, welcomed the ban, which took some 50 years of campaigning to realise. They describe lead as an obvious source of poisoning for people and wildlife.