Yahoo News Escaped cow stops play on tennis court
Mystery surrounds how the cow managed to make its way into the tennis club in Leicestershire.
An escaped cow caused chaos after getting trapped on a tennis court for more than 10 hours.
Members at Market Harborough Tennis Club were left confused when they arrived to play and found the animal stuck in the middle of the main court last Thursday.
Mystery surrounds how the cow managed to make its way into the club in Leicestershire as a key code is required to access the gate.
Photos showed the 10-month-old calf wandering around the courts before trying to head into the clubhouse.
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The cow’s owner Vickie Gillespie, her dad, police officers and local residents, were eventually able to return the animal unharmed to its field in Great Bowden, Leicestershire.
Vickie said: “Lots of parents and children were gathering to take photos and see the new tennis enthusiast.
"But this did upset her slightly so after backing up the trailer as close to the courts as dad could, we cleared the area of spectators.
"With much needed help from some general public and a policeman we formed a human wall to get her out of the courts and into the trailer.
"The odd thing is that, as cows are herd animals, they don't often wander off by themselves.
"It might just be a one-off and she might have been feeling brave."
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Gillespie said everyone was incredibly calm which was the key to getting the cow into the trailer safely and preventing her from running on to the road.
She added: “We took her back to the farm to prevent her retracing her steps and this time taking the rest of the herd with her for a Wimbledon cow special.
“I'm still hoping the mystery is solved on how she got in there."
Adam Shepherd, chairman of Great Bowden Parish Council, also attended the scene to aid with the rescue effort.
He told Harborough FM: "We actually thought it was an early April Fool's joke.
"I went down and heard the cow before I saw it but lo and behold there was actually a cow stood in the middle of the tennis court.
"We have no idea how it got there or why it was there. It was just stood there mooing and walking round and seemed to be having the time of its life.
"We checked the fences and there was no obvious means of entry and nothing seemed to be broken.
"So unless the cow had the code to the gate we figure a member of the public must have let it in for some reason.”
