A Pakistani doctor has been suspended for using an ambulance to carry home a cow he had bought at a local market, health authorities say.

The doctor had taken the ambulance from a rural health centre near the eastern city of Gujrat, in Punjab province.

He was intercepted by police while driving home from the cattle market.

A photo in the Sunday edition of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper showed a large spotted cow tied with a rope to a bar in the back of an ambulance.

Muneer Ahmad, an official at the provincial health department, said he had been "shocked" by the doctor's behaviour.

He said he had suspended the doctor on the request of the police and ordered an inquiry into the incident.