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Conservationists have attacked the Government's decision to introduce a voluntary ban on scallop dredging in parts of Lyme Bay, saying it will mean the continued destruction of important coral reefs.

The Devon Wildlife Trust had called for a compulsory ban, and English Nature had also recommended this measure to protect rare habitat and species such as pink sea fans, ross corals and sunset corals.

However, in announcing a series of measures to protect the marine environment, Defra Minister Ben Bradshaw stopped short of a compulsory ban.

Damaged coral in Lyme Bay

Mr Bradshaw believes a voluntary deal to keep scallop dredgers out of the sensitive areas of Lyme Bay will work, and described the measures as "proportionate."

Speaking on Lundy Island, the Labour MP for Exeter said: "We are acting to protect these pink sea fans, ross corals and sunset corals, and to also protect other parts of Lyme Bay's important marine environment."

"Defra has worked closely with both English Nature and representatives of the fishing industry to reach a compromise on the areas of the Bay to be closed.

"An agreement has been reached which provides the necessary protection on a voluntary basis. We will be consulting with Sea Fisheries Committees to consider how this can be backed up by legislation.

Sunset Coral (Keith Hiscock)

"I will also be considering suggestions that we should exclude other forms of extractive fishing from the closed zones, in order to allow the biodiversity of Lyme Bay to receive maximum benefit and in order to allow scallops to benefit in the open areas."

But the Devon Wildlife Trust says the measures don't go far enough. The trust is also angry that evidence it provided ahead of the decision wasn't taken into account.

Since 2001, the fishing community has agreed to stay away from two zones in Lyme Bay, known as Lanes Ground and Sawtooth Ledges. But the DWT says some fishermen have been dredging in the area, causing damage to the reefs.

The charity asked the Government to extend the area to a 60 square mile zone between Beer and Bridport (eight per cent of Lyme Bay), where dredging and beam trawlers would be banned altogether.

Trust director Paul Gompertz said the Government's decision to have a voluntary arrangement on a smaller area of the Bay - around 12 square miles - made him feel "bleak and angry."

Paul Gompertz

"The Government has proposed doing nothing," he said.

"The Government has failed to make a decision on this matter – they have simply bowed to the scallop dredgers' demands.

"If this occurred on land, where the world could see the wanton destruction taking place to the environment, there would be uproar.

"This is the equivalent to an ancient woodland.

"Ben Bradshaw recently told an international conference 'we have to stop the dredging.' Yet he has utterly failed to protect this important site in our own inshore waters."

"This bowing to the demands of a few scallop fishermen exposes this Government's much trumpeted environmental credentials as completely bogus."