Police were involved in a tense armed steak out when they cornered a rampaging bullock after it smashed its way into a house.

Police were involved in a tense armed steak out when they cornered a rampaging bullock after it smashed its way into a house.

Firearms officers joined the moo and cry in Heacham after a herd of cattle went on the run after escaping from where they were grazing.

One animal broke into an unoccupied house in Station Road, walking clean through the glass patio doors of the property and causing substantial damage to the lounge.

Last night the householder, who was still clearing up the damage after the bovine break-in, did not wish to comment.

Ron Clark, who lives in a bungalow in Neville Road, which is just behind the house, described his shock as he saw the bullock walking around his garden before it suddenly became hyper.

The 63-year-old said: 'I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I saw a cow coming up where my fence is. I thought I was seeing things. It then shot across into someone's patio and into their living room.

'I feel lucky that it didn't cause any damage to us. I care for my mum, who is 93, and my brother who's got emphysema. It frightened me because something could have happened to them. How do you stop a half-tonne cow?'

At one point, it looked as if police were preparing to shoot the intruder as officers armed with automatic weapons stood by while the tension mounted.

But the animal calmed down and was peacefully coaxed onto a trailer by 65-year-old Heacham farmer Terry Sanderson before being driven away alive from the scene.

Another escaped bullock was shot by a farm worker earlier, after it attacked Mr Sanderson, leaving him with heavy cuts and bleeding to his arm.

Last night Mr Sanderson, who farms near the South Beach, said four of the other animals which escaped were still at large.

'I can only apologise,' he said. 'I don't want that to happen to anyone. I didn't want it to go in the house. It was the last thing in the world that I wanted.

'All I can say is that I am very sorry and I will sort it out with the insurance company.'

The drama began just before 11am yesterday, when police were called to Station Road after reports of cattle on the road.

A parish council workman had earlier tried to head off the bullock, which was running along Neville Road, with the help of passers-by.

'They all came running up the street,' said one woman who witnessed the stand-off. 'The man who drives the little parish council van around here tried to use it as a barrier, there were six big blokes with him, they got across the road, but it just ran right through them.

'It got down the end of the road by the bakery and then it ske-daddled off. Police and the parish council truck have been driving around looking for it.'

A Norfolk police spokesman said officers were called just after 11am, when drivers reported cattle in the road.

'We then heard that a bull had got into a property in Station Road,' she added. 'Officers attended and liased with the farmer to come and remove his bull.'