Ministers have been warned that police forces will struggle to cope if they sanction a cull of badgers as it risks creating "conflict" in rural England.

The head of the police unit dealing with domestic extremism has warned if culls to tackle tuberculosis (TB) in cattle go ahead they would clash with several major events. Policing a cull, which could trigger protests from animal welfare campaigners, would put pressure on already-stretched resources at the same time as "competing priorities" including the 2012 Olympics, the G8 summit in 2013 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Farming Minister Jim Paice has said a final decision on a cull will be made "before Christmas" after the Government said it was "strongly minded" to sign it off in July.

As the Western Morning News first reported in the summer, two trial culls have been earmarked for next year, and they are likely to take place in the South West, where bovine TB is most acute.

In an email to the Government and seen by the WMN, Detective Chief Superintendent Adrian Tudway, the national co-ordinator for domestic extremism, warned that forces could be overwhelmed by protests.

It said: "Given the difficult nature of policing this initiative, the steps forces are taking to respond to new financial pressures and the proximity of this initiative to other competing priorities... forces will find themselves under huge pressures to manage even small but sustained campaign activity, particularly where that includes unlawful direct action and subsequent criminal investigations."

Writing on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Det Ch Supt Tudway warns against "pitting farmers against activists", which "has the potential to create divisions and therefore conflict within rural communities".

Forces are able to claim for a special grant from the Home Office if costs to police from protests exceed 1 per cent of their annual budget.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stresses that it has worked closely with the Home Office and other ministries in drawing up the cull plans. But Home Secretary Theresa May is thought to be concerned, and is reported to have called for it to be postponed, echoing warnings made by the Devon and Cornwall Police Federation over an "unpredictable" workload next year.

Ministers have attempted to downplay fears of vigilante farmers shooting badgers at will as marksmen will be licensed, with officials expecting most to be gamekeepers and others already involved in annual deer culls.

A Defra source insisted that no final cull decision has been taken, telling the Independent on Sunday: "We have taken on board all interested parties' concerns and will make sure that the granting of licences will be based on the advice that we have received."

If the pilots are successful, the Government could issue licences for up to 40 culling zones, most likely to be in TB hotspots in the Westcountry.