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A farmer delivered a calf – after getting a phone call from the pregnant cow.

The cow, part of a herd at Halstead Farm in Thurstonland, was fitted with the Moocall calving sensor.

It uses tail movements to assess if the mum-to-be is in distress.

And on Monday morning the device alerted Scott Hall by mobile phone. He was able to get to the cow’s side and safely deliver the calf.

Farmer dad Kenneth, 84, said: “It’s fitted to the cow’s tail and it rang him to alert him the cow was in difficulty.

“If the cow hadn’t rung, the calf would have been dead.

“We’ve only had the gadget for a week, it’s all new technology and there’s an automated voice.

“I couldn’t believe it worked. It’s marvellous.”

Pregnant cattle, part of a 600-strong herd at the picturesque farm, will be fitted with the gadget a day or two before they look likely to give birth.

Mr Hall added: “It’s designed for when things go wrong in the middle of the night.

“There was a time farmers were coming down in the morning and there’d be a cow with a dead calf. But it was at 11am this morning (Monday) when it rang and Scott was in another field but was able to get there.”

He used a calving aid to help the cow safely deliver its calf.