Northumbria Police shoot a cow that escaped near to the Coast Road in Wallsend

Northumbria Police shoot a cow that escaped near to the Coast Road in Wallsend

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Police shot dead an escaped cow following a massive operation involving armed officers and a helicopter.

The beast was one of three to escape from a farm in Wallsend yesterday afternoon.

Northumbria Police deployed marksmen, aerial support and, eyewitnesses said, 15 to 20 cars, closing roads in a bid to keep the animals off the busy A1058 Coast Road.

Lisa Barron, 44, was driving along Station Road and preparing to turn on to Chicken Road at around 3.30pm when a cow ran out in front of her car.

“I got a bit of a shock,” the Newcastle University accommodation officer, who lives on nearby Woodbine Avenue, said. “It’s not quite what you expect to see.

“Luckily I was slowing down or I would have hit it.”

Witnesses said they believed three cows escaped from the Rising Sun Farm in Wallsend, though two were later recaptured.

However the manager of the farm later told the Chronicle that the farm did not have any cows.

“Three cows escaped from a field north of the Rising Sun Country Park,” he said. “It is believed they were spooked by dog walkers and jumped over a fence.

“Two remain out, but are being kept in a safe place, in a field close to the Park.”

(Image: John Millard)

Up to 20 police cars were reported at a field behind O’Hanlon Crescent where armed police were tracking one brown cow.

Residents approached the animal, which one bystander claimed to be “distressed”, although others said it was not moving. Resident Barry Aitchison, 56, said people were watching police deal with the cow.

He claimed armed officers then asked to enter his house to shoot the beast from an upstairs window but that there was not enough room for them to do so.

Instead, Mr Aitchison claims, they went to his neighbour’s property from where the cow was shot and killed at around 5.15pm.

Mr Aitchison said: “It was wrong for the police to kill a cow.”

Police confirmed they had dealt with “loose cows” and had tried to ensure that they did not get on to the busy Coast Road.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “At just before 2.25pm on Sunday May 17 police received a report of cows in the road on Wiltshire Drive, Wallsend heading towards the Coast Road.

“Police attended the scene to locate the cows which had escaped from the nearby Rising Sun Country Park.

“One cow was located on a field near the Coast Road. The Coast Road was closed in both directions to allow attempts to be made to recover the cow.

“However, the cow was in a highly distressed state and considered to be a significant risk to members of the public and motorists.

“The decision was made for the animal to be destroyed by firearms officers at the scene.

“The Coast Road has since reopened and recovery of the other two cows is being made by the owners.”