Police were called after around 20 cows escaped from a field and started wandering the nearby Hitchin streets.

Officers received a call from a baffled member of the public who saw the herd walk past houses on Highover Way, off Woolgrove Road.

A police spokesman said: “Officers were called after around 15 to 20 cows were spotted running up a hill, with reports of some of the animals in the road and others in front gardens.

“The farmer was called and the cows subsequently moo-ved on.”