A "well known" pet emu has been returned to its home in a small English village after escaping and running through the snowy streets.

The "resident" emu in Tollesbury, a small village near the coast in Essex, was spotted running through the streets and in a graveyard on Sunday morning.

"I was going up to the recreation ground with my son George and his two friends … we came up to the churchyard and there was an emu there running through the gravestones," local man Matthew Devonport told Essex Live.

"Around three men cornered it and kind of shooed it to the other side where it lives.

"It left a trail of feathers all around the churchyard."

The emu is well known in Tollesbury, according to local woman Jasmin Emson.

"It's called Farage and [it] lives next to the church," she told the East Anglian Times.

It is not clear how the emu escaped, but after being chased through the graveyard it was reportedly put in a headlock and taken home.

"Some kind of argument broke out about how it managed to get out. An older lady was there who was the owner," Mr Devonport said.

"One of the men managed to get it in a headlock by its neck and he was taken back home."

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Farage's escape caused a stir in the small village, with Ms Emson describing the affair as "just madness".

"We were all preparing to go out in the snow and suddenly I saw it run past me — we were all a bit shocked it had got out.

"Everyone knows the emu but it was fine, just running loose."

It is unclear why a woman in Tollesbury has a pet emu: the flightless bird native to Australia that can grow up to 2 metres tall.

But despite the reported headlock and trail of feathers, a local writer said Farage made it home in one piece.

"Tollesbury's resident emu (yes, emu) got out this morning and has now been safely herded home," Harriet Balcombe said on Twitter.

Mr Devonport said Farage's owner was "very grateful" for the emu's return.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted," Mr Devonport said of witnessing the runaway bird.

"Nothing like this ever happens in Tollesbury!"