Cows on the loose around St Martin’s

Fortunately, the cows were home by mid-afternoon.

It is understood that they escaped from a field near Icart at about 3am, before embarking on a journey that took them along narrow lanes and into parishioners’ gardens.

One unfortunate resident posted footage from his property’s security camera on Facebook of the herd marauding through his drive. A group of seven were captured in a garden near the Bella Luce and Les Douvres Hotel, while the parish constables confirmed that the remaining 10 were found later in the day.

The Guernsey Press was not able to confirm who the cows belonged to or how they escaped. However, the owners of Les Hubits Farm confirmed that they were not responsible, despite being called several times about the breakout.

Parish junior constable Dave Beausire said that the escape had only added to the chaos in the parish over the last few days, with the windy weather bringing several trees down.

‘Where the seven cows were, it’s almost like they were trying to shelter from the wind and rain,’ he said.

‘Fortunately it was quite easy for them to be rounded up in the garden they were in, and they were calm as they were herded back up to their field.’

The GSPCA was also alerted to the incident, but was not able to locate the cows. Manager Steve Byrne said the centre only had one volunteer warden on at the time when the call from the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre came through in the early hours.

‘In this type of situation people usually call 999 or us, whereas really it would be more helpful to have a system whereby farmers were notified instead,’ he said.

While unaware of how much damage had been done on this occasion, Mr Byrne emphasised the potential danger of herd animals breaking out of their enclosure.

‘The most worrying thing is what they can do to properties and indeed people if there is a big group of them, it can be a real concern.’