A man was escorted from a county Antrim supermarket on Saturday after he tried to bring a sheep into the store on a lead.

When confronted by a man who identified himself as a store detective and told him he could not have the animal in the shop, the owner of the sheep asked to see the store policy.

He said this stipulated “no dogs” and queried why he could not bring in his sheep. When a number of other members of staff arrived the owner of the sheep was escorted outside. One witness alleged that the owner of the sheep then tried to assault the security guard.

Shopper William Allen who witnessed the encounter said the sheep appeared to be a pet and was on “this long, leather lead, and it was walking on ahead of him, like it was a dog”.

“He wasn’t pulling it, it was walking quietly ahead of him, so it must be used to being on a lead.

A photograph showing the sheep on a leash in a shopping centre on Saturday.

Mr Allen said the owner of the sheep then questioned why he could not bring his sheep in, because the store policy said “no dogs”, rather than “no animals”.

“It then took a turn for the worse because when the man got outside he grabbed a metal bar and tried to hit the security guard with it,” said Mr Allen.

“He [the security guard] put him on the ground and held him there, and the sheep just stood there watching. It was even letting a few baas.

“Eventually he calmed down and the security guard let him up and he just walked off through the car park, with the sheep walking ahead of him on the lead.

“It’s one of the most surreal things I’ve ever seen.”

A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a man was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including common assault and disorderly behaviour following an altercation at a supermarket in Portrush yesterday.

“He has since been released on police bail pending further enquiries.”

John Junk posted online that he had spoken to the “urban shepherd” who had the sheep.

“He claimed his charge was one of triplets, that he’d had her from when she was three days old and have saved her from the abattoir.”

The Irish Times contacted Lidl for comment about the incident but so far the company has not responded.