A bull injured and trampled at least two people and charged a jogger as it rampaged through an island town.
Police in Lerwick on Shetland, some in cars, spent several hours in pursuit of the one tonne creature as it caused chaos.
At one point they even brought in a cow to calm it down before eventually packing it into the back of a truck at about 10pm last night (Tuesday).
Islanders have spoken about what they described as an “unusual” event for the town home to 7,500 people.
Student Holly King was charged by the bull while she was out jogging near Tesco store about about 7.45.
She said: “I was just jogging along and I stopped and looked up and thought is that a cow walking along the road.
“It was fine and just walking along so I continued jogging.
“As I was jogging by it was looking at me – it made eye contact with me.
“It stayed on the opposite side of the road then it just turned.”
“It just went for me.
“I think I froze. I must have jumped over the wall – it was the wall that leads to the fire station.
“It jumped up, but it didn’t go over the wall. I must have just jumped over the wall at the last second.”
She added: “I was so shaken up. Thank god the wall was there.”
She said the bull then “ran off”.
“This happened before it attacked the elderly lady,” Holly said.
“There was a woman who was taking photos, a tourist. She came over and was talking for a while, as if it was usual for Shetland.
“I just jogged back home.”
Hugh Sim, who was driving though Lerwick at the time, said: “I was on my way home from a music lesson and the next thing I know there is a police car and the guy waving his hand out the window.
“Next thing I know this bull was walking past.”
He said: “There was one police car in front of it and one behind it. It’s not a usual sight in Lerwick.
He added: “It was out for a few hours. They managed to get it cornered in a garden and into a truck.”
James Aitken, 22, saw the bull when it was cornered in the garden just before police managed to get it into the back of the truck.
“I’d heard it was running about the streets. They’d managed to get it cornered in this guy’s garden.
“It attacked a woman and apparently it trampled a man as well, but they’re both fine. It’s a bit of a strange story.
“When they managed to get it cornered in the garden they took another cow in.
“They ushered it into the garden and just left them to it.
“From what I could see it seemed quite calm on its own until they tried to get it into the van, but they stuck in another one to calm it down.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers saw the cow leaping over a wall at Tesco, it had already escaped at that time.
“It then travelled down South Road to the Clickimin Centre where it charged a woman in her 70s. She has not been seriously injured but was taken to hospital.
“The bull was escorted to a walled garden, where officers were able to take control of it. A man in his 40s was charged and stood on while they were trying to get it into a trailer. He was also taken to hospital.
“They brought in a cow to settle it down and it was taken back to its farm.”
Just out for an evening stroll…
Mary Thomason was attacked by the bull on her evening stroll.
The 72-year-old said: “I’d been been for a walk and was coming round the football pitch and all of a sudden I saw this great animal coming towards me.
“It was terribly frightening. I couldn’t believe it. I looked ahead and this bull was just in front of me.
“He just came right at me as if I was in the way. I was knocked out for a second.”
She continued: “The boys came to help me and the bull went along the path.
“He couldn’t get out the other end. He came back up again – we would have gone for us again.
“The boys had to lift me and get me behind the fence. There was a gate that they closed. I don’t know what happened after that.”
She added: “I’m lucky not to have been killed.
“When I go for a walk I’m frightened about dogs sometimes. You never think that you would run into a bull.”
Mrs Thomason said she was allowed to go home from the hospital last night (Tuesday) and despite her ordeal doesn’t have any broken bones.
“It was my ribs and chest,” she said. “I was home last night, they let me go.”
She added: “I feel a bit shaken up and upset about the whole thing.”
He son Angus Thomason said: “It was a frightening experience for her. She is really badly shaken up and bruised.”
He continued: “Thankfully there was a paramedic there. “People thought she was dead when they got to her.”
He said when she was hit by the bull she was “raised off the ground”.
Mr Thomason continued: “The most frightening thing was that it came back. It couldn’t get out and turned round and came back towards them.
“They picked her up over the fence.” He added: “She thinking she’s never going for a walk again.”