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A marauding sheep which is being kept in a Derbyshire field has attacked and injured at least three people, according to villagers.

The ram has been patrolling a field off Halfmoon Lane, Kirk Ireton, where a public footpath runs.

And Kirk Ireton parish councillors have been told the beast has left one if its victims needing two operations and another requiring a course of antibiotics.

The council met last night to discuss the rampaging sheep, which began its reign of terror over a month ago.

According to reports at the meeting, one man needed two operations on his hand after it was damaged by the feisty ram and another suffered a cut to his thumb, which later went septic.

Councillors say they are worried the ram could seriously injure a child, as the footpath is used by youngsters from the nearby school.

Chairman Kath Stevens told members: "You'll know from the last meeting we were having trouble with this ram. Well, it's gradually getting worse and worse.

"One man, as I understand it, has had two operations as a result of this ram, and a steel plate put in, David Evans has been injured, and there's an old gentleman hobbling around in Hull that's been badly butted.

"So we've got three reported injuries. There's reports from another gentleman who wasn't injured because he managed to catch it and turn it away.

"We need to be looking after our people. What if a woman or a child goes down there and is badly injured?

"You can see children using that footpath, it's a nice little walk down for them."

The parish councillors now want to track down the owner of the sheep, who they believe to be a woman from Kilburn, near Belper.

They agreed to write a letter to the owner and will look into placing signs at either end of the footpath, warning walkers about the hostile beast.

David Evans, who lives near to the field where the sheep are grazing, attended the meeting, sporting a strapped-up thumb which he claims was injured while he was "wrestling" the ram away from him.

He told parish councillors: "It's nasty little beast. It's not very big, but it's got a huge head and it gets well off the ground, you don't see it coming. It's very dangerous.

"You can't see it if it comes from a far corner of the field."

An officer from Derbyshire police was invited to the meeting but did not attend.

However the force says that dangerous livestock is a civil, not a criminal matter.

What our reporter Gareth Butterfield said happened to him when he approached the ram.

“It’s not immediately obvious whether there is a sheep in the field when you cross the stile off Halfmoon Lane; the ewes and the ram have a hut over the brow of the hill and they seem to stay by that, grazing.

“But as soon as the ram saw me his instincts obviously kicked in and, just as the villagers have described, he set off towards me. He walked slowly at first, but his pace soon quickened. This was the point at which I thought I’d better up sticks.

“I turned and ran towards the stile, looking back occasionally and firing off shots on my camera, nearly tumbling at one point on the soft grass. He kept up his pursuit.

“As I reached the stile he started to back away, thank goodness, but it was obvious that he meant business up to that point.”

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