Watch: Cows stampede down English high street in front of stunned pub-goers

27 October 2020, 18:06

Herd of cows stampede down high street moments after pub-goers leave

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Watch the astonishing moment a herd of cows stampeded past stunned pub-goers down a high street in Somerset.

Patrons of The Phoenix Hotel in Chard were left in disbelief on Saturday evening after witnessing a group of cattle casually wandering past cars parked in the town centre.

With the 10pm coronavirus curfew looming, between 80 and 90 cows bravely trotted along the road with seemingly little regard for social distancing - perhaps preferring to employ a herd immunity strategy.

Stunned onlookers darted out the pub to milk the incredible moment by recording it on their phones.

However, the best view came from CCTV footage caught by the hotel's manager Steven Jones, who said he had "never seen anything like it here before".

"The cows were all moving at quite a pace, and a few ran past on the pavement right next to the pub," he added.

"It is lucky that it was not 10 or 15 minutes earlier, as a lot of people had just left and had been standing outside the pub.

"I think the cows ended up congregating at the rugby club in the end and made a bit of a mess from what I hear."

The police were alerted to the bimbling bovine creatures and closed a number of roads while they were safely rounded up.