A bullock calf has been put to sleep after it charged a woman when it broke out of its field and ran loose in the cul de sac where she lives.
Jacqueline Baldrey, 64, was left with a fractured elbow and bruises to her ribs, thigh and hand after the frightened bullock charged at her when she went outside to shoo it back.
Farmer Alan Durose, 68, says he has never seen anything like it in all his years of raising cattle and fears the animal may have been spooked by an adder.
The herd have now all been moved from the land Mr Durose has grazed animals on for 20 years and both he and the National Farmers Union have urged anybody who encounters a frenzied animal to steer well clear.
Following the incident on Bank Holiday Monday Mrs Baldrey said: “I don’t care if a herd of elephants are coming down the street, I’m shutting my door and staying put.
“What if it had ploughed into a frail elderly person or a child, it could’ve killed them.
“My neighbours came to help me and the bullock charged them too but luckily they managed to get me into my bungalow,” she said.
Mrs Baldrey, who is looking to sue for her injuries, was in her kitchen when she saw the bullock run past her window and down other driveways so went outside to try to shoo it back to where it belonged.
The field behind her bungalow in Otago Close, Whittlesey, is the Showfields site and is a popular spot for local dog walkers.
Beyond that is the field where the animals graze - the bullock had broken free of both fields and ended up in the residential area, she said.
Mr Durose said he and a friend chased the bullock for about 20 minutes and had just caught up with him when his friend shouted three times to Mrs Baldrey to move out of the way.
“I was brought up in farming and have never seen an a animal spooked like this,” he said.
“There’s lots of adders in the field where they were, I can only guess that is what has spooked it, there’s no easy answer to this, but I would say keep well out of the way of a spooked animal.”
A spokesman for the National Farmers Union said: “Although cases like this are rare, care should be taken in these situations as the animal may well be distressed.
“If confronted by an escaped farm animal the best advice is to contact the farmer or the local authorities.”
Police said it was a civil matter.
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