This is the MOO-ment a runaway cow escaped from a country show and went on the rampage through a quiet village destroying an elderly couple’s front garden.
The confused animal stunned residents when it bolted from the Woodhall Spa Country Show, Lincs., after charging out of a show pen on Sunday morning.
Dramatic pictures show the white cow trampling through the front garden of a bungalow belonging to a retired couple.
Eyewitness Norma Outen, 54, who lives opposite, took pictures of the cow as locals and five farmers from the show took 45 minutes to load it back into a trailer.
Norma, a ministry of defence PA, said: “All of the farmers were arriving very early on Sunday morning for the show.
“My husband was on duty at the show at about 8.30am and there was this cow trotting down the lane towards him.
“There was a farmer in a trailer behind the cow. It panicked a bit when it saw the farmer and trotted into the garden of our neighbours over the road.
“The cow sort of got itself trapped because the lawn is quite narrow and it couldn’t turn around.
“We just stayed in the house and opened our windows to see what was going on.
“Eventually the farmer’s trailer and 4×4 backed into the garden and they were trying to coax it into the trailer.
“There were five farmers but the cow wasn’t having any of it for a while. It must’ve took about 45 minutes to coax her into the trailer.
“The elderly couple that live there were in bed, it must have been a shock to them.
“The cow was eating a couple of flowers and he had a chew on the grass.
“We were in hysterics. We had to hide behind the curtains because we were laughing so much.
“It shook the peace of a beautiful summer’s morning but nobody was hurt luckily.”
As well as eating the couple’s flowers and munching on the pristine lawn, the front garden was left ruined because of ruts caused by the farmer’s 4×4 and trailer.
But yesterday, organisers of the Woodhall Spa Country Show said the cow’s owners had offered to pay for damage caused by the escaped animal.
Spokeswoman Helen Everard said: “It was an isolated incident and the cow was quickly recaptured.
“The owner has offered to pay for damage, nobody was hurt and there were no accidents on the road.
“There was minor damage to lawn and we have been to the see the neighbour.”
Around 3,500 people attended the annual event, which features livestock competitions, stalls selling produce from local businesses and vintage vehicle displays.
* In March this year, heavy-handed Lincolnshire Police were slammed after they sent a team of armed officers to a primary school to shoot an escaped cow.
