Dylan Boyle, 52, was seen placing nets on a slope and digging with a spade near active badger setts at a farm near Cupar, Fife, in January last year.

He was sentenced at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after being found guilty following an earlier three-day trial of two charges in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. He was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

The court heard how Boyle, of Avonbridge, near Falkirk, was filmed at the farm by investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS). He was seen climbing over a wire fence from the field to a sloping bank and began investigating the ground.

The accused repeatedly went back and forward from the hill to his quadbike and began removing nets and placing them across the site as if he was covering up entrances to a sett.

The following day the site was visited by an ecologist and police officer who found evidence of an active badger sett. The damage to the sett and the blocked entrances were noted at that time.

Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office, said: “It is highly important to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife that forms part of it.

“Badgers are given strict protection by law and it is a criminal offence to interfere with a badger sett either intentionally or recklessly.

“Dylan Boyle’s actions were deliberate and carried out with a total disregard for the consequences they could have for a protected species.”