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Herd the news? Odd one out causes gridlock

Laura Thistlethwaite
14/ 8/2008

DRIVERS thought they were going udderly bonkers when they spotted this daring dairy cow dodging the Didsbury traffic.

The escaped bovine knew she would have to moo-ve swiftly to make the most of her 45-minute jaunt around Parrs Wood, before being captured by police.

The large black animal – usually the odd one out in a field of brown cow-nterparts – was initially spotted trotting across Kingsway, where an onlooker told police it was ‘heading for Cheadle’.

Literally stopping traffic, the cow was seen crossing the road and making its way down Dalston Drive and onto Parrs Wood Road at around 12.30pm on Monday, August 11.

Barbara Chiarotti, of Bankside Road, was going shopping when she heard the commotion.

"I was driving along Parrs Wood Road and a police car was blocking the way. On a closer look, I saw they were blocking an escaped cow. The police car had blocked it into someone’s path.

"I couldn’t believe my eyes, it’s not something you normally see on the way to the shops! Imagine opening your front door to find a huge black cow on your path!"

Police traced the cow back to a livestock farm in Cheadle and contacted owner Craig Schofield who came to collect his breakout-bovine.

Craig said the three-year-old Black Commercial had escaped from Cheadlewood Farm, on Manchester Road, making her bid for freedom and milking it for all it was worth.

He said: "A neighbour told me the cow had got out, then we got the call from the police saying they had her cornered in someone’s driveway. She was very relaxed when we got there and happily got in the trailer.

"I think she just fancied getting out and about for a bit – you know what women are like, once they get an idea in their heads there’s no stopping them. I’m sure she had a nice time out in Didsbury, but it wasn’t my idea of fun!

"She doesn’t have a name, because we only give names to our pedigrees, but I’m sure our escapee’s earned herself a bit of a celebrity status now."

A police spokesman said: "We had several calls about a cow in the road. PSCOs attended and penned it in a back garden on Parrs Wood Lane. They located the farmer who arrived with a wagon; the cow was contained at around 1.15pm."