Villagers in Devon awoken by dozens of cows after gate left open

Residents in a Devon village were left astounded after dozens of cows flooded the area.

The cattle caused a stir in East Allington in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

It is thought the herd escaped after a gate was left open, allowing the cows to amble into the nearby village.

The clip-clopping of hooves and mooing roused residents from their sleep at around 5.30am.

Sian Baynes, who lives in East Allington, took a photo of the cows outside her home before attempting to return them to the field.

She said: "It was a very eventful morning, to say the least.

"Myself, Sharon Mercer, and Sarah and Dan Wills tried to get them out of the ditch and back along Laburnum way to get them up the road and into a field, but they wouldn't come out of the ditch.

"So I asked people to block every entrance and I went into the ditch and showed them out, we got them up to Lister Way and back onto the main road, this is when the farmers turned up to block the lane and Soapers so they would go straight into the field."

Sian's 12-year-old daughter helped and was reportedly "in her element as her Nan lives on a cow farm, so she helps herd cows most weekends.

“She stood behind them all, waving her arms, making sure that the ones who tried to turn back didn't."

The cows enjoyed around 45-60 minutes in the village before they were eventually packed off back to the field.

Devon County Council shared a photo of the incident on Facebook and urged people to remember to close any gates when walking through fields.