WHEN an emu chased a group of kids down a New Zealand street the only thing missing from the comical scene was a giant anvil.

"I felt like I was watching the Road Runner cartoon," Constable Jeff Woolf said.



"Because my surname is Woolf ... I felt like Wile E Coyote."



The Australian native animal escaped from a farm in the Marlborough Sounds at the north of the South Island on Saturday, running down the street at up to 30km/h, the Marlborough Express reported today.



Constable Woolf said he was called after reports from a tourist of a distressed emu running along the road at Ocean Bay at about 4pm (2pm AEST).



By the time the officer arrived, the bird had run about seven kilometres, chasing a group of children along the way, he said.



A group of locals herded the bird into a paddock and were going to call its owner.



"In 14 years on the job it's the most unusual call I've ever had," Constable Woolf said.



"Like any livestock on the road, if they get out they can get quite hazardous.



"If someone had swerved to avoid an emu [and crashed] they could have been injured."