THIEVES who stole a line of fencing caused chaos in a city suburb as a herd of 50 cows took advantage of the opportunity to gain their freedom and went for a wander.

A resident in Osbaldwick on the outskirts of York heard strange noises outside her home at about midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

When she went to investigate she couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw a herd of about 50 cows surrounding her boyfriend's car.

As the woman alerted the police the cows slowly moved off down the street.

She said: “They woke me up. I could hear some sort of noise.

"It sounded like someone trying to break in, so I looked out of our spare bedroom window which faces the street and at first they were all surrounding my boyfriend’s car. Then they moved off.”

Luckily the animals didn’t cause any major damage, but evidence of their midnight roam was left behind in the local streets.

The witness added: “Looking at the aftermath they’ve eaten my plants at the front and left some of their not very nice remains over the drive”

After reporting the incident, police officers told her they had been in contact with the farmer.

She added: “They told the police some of the fencing was stolen, that’s why the cows were all loose. So well done to the farmers for dealing with this all.”