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Police issue warning after animals escape onto A66
Jul 28, 2010
FARMERS and walkers are being warned to be more vigilant after a spate of incidents involving animals wandering loose on some of the dale’s busiest roads.
Barnard Castle Police said they had six phone calls over the weekend from concerned members of the public who had spotted roaming livestock on the A66 and other routes.
Acting Sgt Jonathan Dixon said it was an unusually high number of calls over a two-day period and warned that if a driver struck one of the animals there could be carnage.
He said: “If a car was to strike a sheep or a cow at 70-miles-an-hour it’s going to be horrendous, as is the pile-up afterwards.”
Act Sgt Dixon said that the animals had somehow escaped from their fields and he is urging both walkers and famers to be more careful.
He said that walkers enjoying the dale need to remember to close all gates into fields, while farmers and landowners need to ensure that all boundary fences on their property are secure.
Both sheep and cows were spotted on the roads over the weekend and Act Sgt Dixon said that anyone
failing to secure a field could be at risk of a criminal prosecution.
But he added that civil litigation from any injured party was more likely following accidents involving livestock.
Act Sgt Dixon said there were no accidents reported at the weekend but there had been a number of near- misses.
In August, 2008, the 34-year-old driver of a Mercedes was left fighting for his life after his car struck a cow which was on the loose near Bowes, on the A66, where police were already investigating reports that 20 or 30 cows had strayed onto the busy stretch of road.
In January, 2002, a 27-year-old car passenger was killed after the vehicle, being driven by her husband, struck a cow on the A66 at Bowes Moor.
Act Sgt Dixon said: “When you approach a cattle grid you would expect to perhaps see livestock nearby but when you are driving a wagon at high speed on the A66, it’s a different matter entirely.”
Anyone who sees any livestock on roads across the dale is asked to report it to Barnard Castle Police on 0345 60 60 365.