RESIDENTS held their own round-up yesterday when their gardens were invaded by a herd of runaway cows.

Ron Gordon awoke to find five escaped six-month-old Belgium blues were chomping on his rhododendrons and moving from his garden to concentrate on his neighbours' blooms.

He quickly dressed then he and his four-year-old grand-daughter Leah Magson turned cowboy to round up the runaways.

"I was very worried because I though they might get run over by a bus on the road nearby," said Leah. "We were trying to get them all in one place but they kept going all over."

The drama took place at Rosewood Court, in Marton, Middlesbrough. Neighbours turned out to watch and laugh at their heroic efforts despite the effect it was having on their gardens as the cows trampled over plants and lawns.

Mr Gordon, a 49-year-old social worker, used football scarves to get the cows into an alley where a resident kept watch until the police and a farmer arrived.

Ten cows escaped from Ormesby Grange Farm in Ormesby Hall yesterday morning after a gate was left open.

Two were found on the busy A174 parkway while another three were discovered near Marton Country Club as well as the five in Rosewood Court. None of them were injured.