TWO women are recovering in hospital after they were seriously injured by a herd of cows in separate incidents on the same day.

Dog walkers have been warned of the dangers of entering fields containing cows after the accidents in Redmire, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

A 48-year-old mother-of-two suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung after apparently being trampled by the young cows on Sunday afternoon.

The woman, who lives in the village, had been walking her dog on a public footpath when she was injured in a field near Dry Close Farm.

It understood the woman tried to crawl out of the field and became stuck on a cattle grid at the entrance.

The woman was found by a gravedigger working at the nearby churchyard.

He alerted the emergency services at about 4.15pm.

Firefighters were called to free the woman.

She was treated by a doctor travelling with the Great North Air Ambulance, before being airlifted to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Hospital staff said she was in a stable condition last night.

Earlier that morning a couple in their early 50s, also from Redmire, had been walking their two dogs in the field.

The cows knocked both to the floor and trampled on the woman.

She suffered a broken arm and fractured skull, while her husband escaped with minor cuts and bruises.

The man drove his wife to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, where she received treatment before being transferred by ambulance to the James Cook hospital.

She was in a comfortable condition last night.

It is understood the dogs in both incidents were unhurt.

Police have spoken to the farmer, but said last night they were not investigating further.

Alan Hulme, ranger services manager at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, warned walkers to take extra care in fields with cows.

He said: “Cattle can be naturally inquisitive and protective, especially if they have got young.

“People should try to make an exit if they feel threatened.

If they have a dog, they should let its lead go.

“Nine out of ten times, the cattle will go towards the dog rather than the people.”

In June last year, a vet from Cheshire died after cows became aggressive as she walked her dog along the Pennine Way, near Gayle, in the Yorkshire Dales.