A RUNAWAY cow went on the rampage through a quiet village near Wrexham.

At one stage police cordoned off an entire street in Overton in an effort to catch the frightened animal .

However, it strayed on to a busy main road where it was struck by a passing car but police and a local farmer confirmed it was not badly injured and was eventually returned to the local farm from where it had escaped.

The drama unfolded just after 6.30am when a member of the public rang police to report a cow was loose in the Willow Street area.

Officers arrived on the scene and, according to a North Wales Police spokesman, found the cow “running wild” on the road near the corner of the street and the main A539 Wrexham road.

The spokesman added: “Willow Street was closed by officers but as the cow made its way through the streets to the village playing fields, it was hit by a blue Hyundai car.

“There was minimum damage to the car and the driver was unhurt.

“A vet was called to examine the cow and officers found the local farmer to which it belonged.

“It is believed the animal was not badly injured.”

The Rev David Lewis, the rector of Overton who lives in the vicarage in nearby Sundorne, said: “I didn’t hear anything happening while all this was going on but when I took my dogs for a walk at about 8am I saw a car in the middle of the main Wrexham road with police around it.

“I was told later by neighbours that a cow had been hit by a car near the Scout hut.”

Mark Owen, who runs the nearby Carreg y Franc dairy farm, said: “Because this is the nearest farm, the police came here to see if it was my cow but I told them it wasn’t one of mine.

“My father, John, who farms here with me, went out to look at the cow and said it didn’t appear to be hurt and would definitely live to fight another day.”

A number of other dairy farms in the Overton area contacted by the Leader said the cow did not belong to them.