Two cows that escaped from a market have been shot dead during a seven-hour stand-off with armed police.

The cattle escaped from Norwich Livestock Market in the UK on Saturday afternoon as they were being loaded on to a lorry by their owner, on Saturday afternoon.

Armed officers were sent in to shoot the cows yesterday afternoon with the agreement of the owner and in the "interests of public safety", Norfolk Police said.

A third cow escaped and was found dead in nearby woodland at around midnight after a lightning storm hampered the search.

Police closed several roads during the stand-off, causing severe disruption to traffic.

Officers said they were left with no choice but to shoot the animals as they were charging at officers.

Drugs used to put them to sleep in would have taken too long to kick in, it was claimed.

"In the interests of public safety, once police had consulted with the farmer who owned the animals, the pair were destroyed by trained firearms officers," a norfolk Police spokesman said.

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