Escaped bulls rampage at resort

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Bulls surprise Tenby residents with spirited run.

Two bulls have run amok at a seaside resort tossing one person in the air and leaving another who jumped out of their way clinging to a cliff edge.

The animals escaped from a trailer near Tenby harbour in Pembrokeshire after being transported from Caldey Island.

Police said the "irate and aggressive" bulls were on the loose for several hours before they were eventually shot dead by marksmen.

Officers said it was fortunate that no one was seriously injured.

Dyfed-Powys Police said they were called to the Castle Hill area of the resort at about 1005 BST.

With the help of a vet the bulls were contained within temporary fencing at a footpath near the lifeboat stations but escaped again.

"Following this, a member of the public who was in the area had to jump over a wall in order to avoid the bulls, and officers had to rescue this person who was hanging over rocks," said police.

It flipped me into the air and into a hedge Paul Edmundson

"Another person wasn't so fortunate, and one of the bulls confronted them and tossed them into the air."

Paul Edmundson, a 25-year-old local barman who also works as a part-time Caldey Island boat crewman, said he escaped with minor cuts.

He said: "We tried to cut off the route of escape for the bulls when one came through a hedge and charged straight towards us.

"It just smashed the barrier out of the way and picked its target, which was me.

"I was trying to climb up a bank and as I did the bull dropped its head to gore me.

"I thought 'I'm not being hit by one of those horns' so I actually sat down between the horns.

Police sealed off part of the town while they tried to catch the bulls

"It flipped me into the air and into a hedge. I've got a few cuts and scrapes from landing in the hedge and a bit of a bruised bottom from where it hit me."

Tenby lifeboat station was forced to close for over an hour with seven people inside.

A spokesperson said they put a tractor in front of the station door in case the bulls tried to break in.

Mark Lewis, a manager at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery on Castle Hill, said: "Apparently the trip across from Caldey Island had spooked one of them, and they bolted off the boat.

"They wouldn't be rounded up. When I saw them they were grazing, but one of them was fairly frisky.

"They weren't fully grown, but I didn't get close enough to measure. They were fairly small, but you wouldn't want them charging at you in a rush."

The animals had been transported by boat to the mainland for slaughter.

The police spokesperson added: "All possible options to deal with the animals were considered in consultation with the vet - but considering the immediate danger they posed to the public, armed officers had to destroy them."

Police said the area was made safe and re-opened at around 1300 BST.