A12 car crash: Nine cows killed and three people injured after vehicles hit cattle on dual carriageway

Nine cows have been killed and three people injured after cars crashed into cattle that had wandered onto a busy A road.

Officers were called in the early hours of Friday morning to an accident on the A12 Witham bypass, 50 miles northeast of London.

Essex Police said two people were treated for minor injuries by ambulance staff and one person was taken to hospital.

The force said it is believed that nine cows died in the incident.

The accident caused tailbacks after the dual carriageway was closed throughout the morning rush hour. It reopened just before 9am.

At least one angry holidaymaker missed his flight amid the chaos.

"F****** cows on the A12 made us miss our flight, how do they escape onto the road? Come on farmers," he wrote on Twitter.

One local, however, appeared to benefit from the accident.

"Cows got hit on the A12 and I got a free bus journey because it was late," she said.