It's death or glory for star bull at Forlorn Hope Farm

Now he has at least one second opinion – and a very good one.

From his confinement in quarantine, Hallmark Boxster or "Boxy", has got himself in the running to be declared best of his kind in the UK.

Judges from the British Blonde Society visited him in his "condemned cell" in Yorkshire this week for a second look, to see if he deserved a national as well as a regional title in a competition open to more than 550 herds in nine regions of the whole UK.

Ironically, the judges arrived just after the Jacksons got an ultimatum from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – the bull cannot have a retest and must be slaughtered in the coming week or they will come and do it themselves.

The family do not want to discuss the details of their dispute while it continues, but it looks as if one last triumph is their best hope.

The competition results will probably be ready this week, so it looks like a toss-up between glory and death for Boxter.

Mr Jackson runs a herd of about 40 pedigree British Blondes – descended from imported Blondes d'Aquitaine – alongside his commercial beef operation at Forlorn Hope Farm, Stubbs Walden, between Eggborough power station and Doncaster.

The farm was humorously named after an old battle site, and most of the news from it in recent years has been good.

Mr Jackson knew that Hallmark Boxster was his best-ever bull and with the help of his married daughter, Kate McNeil, who does a lot of the show work, they swept away all competition on last summer's tour of the agricultural shows.

Then, in March this year, disaster struck out of the blue.

Yorkshire is largely free of bovine tuberculosis – scourge of the South – but all cattle herds must go through routine tests to make sure bTB has not been accidentally imported.

A bought-in beef heifer was found to be a carrier. The vets then condemned six more animals, including the bull, because there were grounds for suspicion that they, too, had been exposed.

Mr Jackson was not convinced. He agreed to most of the animals going to slaughter, but in Boxter's case he asked to be able to buy further tests, in view of the value of the animal.

The Government takes the view that its strategy would collapse if farmers were allowed to argue with it.

But Boxster was allowed to live while the argument went on – under strict conditions.

His paddock is surrounded by two fences, one electric and one spiked.

Only Mr Jackson and his daughter can go in and they have to wear special clothes, kept in an isolated hut, along with all the bull's food and grooming kit.

"When we entered the competition, we were hoping for recognition of the herd quality as a bit of a boost for my Dad," his daughter said.

"When the judges came, they asked to see our stock bull and we explained the situation. But they still wanted to see him. We were floored when they told us he was best in the region and to get him ready for another round of judging, for the national competition for stock bulls.

"Any other time, it would have been the best possible news for any breeder that he might have the best bull in the country.

"But at the moment, even to give Boxy a scratch over the fence means using a stick and then dipping it in disinfectant, which is heartbreaking.

"It is hard to believe an animal which looks so fine has got anything wrong with him."

The secretary of the British Blondes Society, Caroline Jackson , said: "There is no question of a sympathy vote.

"The judges are impartial experts on the breed."

Condemned ...but case not proven

Bovine TB is costing the taxpayer around 100m a year in compensation for animals condemned under the Government's containment policy.

But in many cases, bTB is never confirmed.

Animals are slaughtered, to be on the safe side, if they fail either one of two standard tests – neither of which is 100 per cent proven.

Yorkshire does not appear to have "endemic" bTB, meaning it will live on in the wildlife whatever the farmers do.

Cattle-to-cattle transmission is assumed to be the explanation for the odd case which does arise, even when it cannot be proved.