A 42-stone bale of hay fell off the back of a tractor trailer and rolled nearly 200 yards down a high street, forcing a driver to reverse at speed to get out of the way as it bounced towards him.

Shoppers in Knighton, Mid Wales, watched on in disbelief as a young passenger in the tractor leapt out in hot pursuit of the runaway bale, which eventually came to rest after a car parked car on the street.

Three other bales also fell off the trailer in Broad Street at about 4.30pm yesterday, but landed on their flat sides and did not move.

No damage was caused and nobody was injured in the incident, but residents said today how the street was left in “a total mess” with clumps of hay everywhere.

Daniel Tyler, an amateur photographer who lives in the town, said he had never experienced anything like it.

He said once people realised nobody had been hurt, people could not stop laughing as clumps of hay settled all along the main shopping street.

He said: “The tractor was at the top of the hill then all of a sudden, four massive bales fell straight off the back.

“Three of them landed on their flat side so did not move, but one bounced off and started to roll down the hill.

“It was lucky no car was behind the tractor, because it would have caused a serious accident, but the runaway bale was heading for a silver Vauxhall Astra which was about to come up the hill in the opposite direction.

“The look of horror on the driver’s face was something else and he put the car into reverse and began racing away from the on-coming bale.

“A young lad who was riding in the tractor with the driver leapt out and started chasing the bale down the street, much to the amusement of onlookers.

“Luckily the driver managed to get out of the way and the bale clipped the back of a parked car before coming to a halt.

“No damage was caused, but the street was absolutely covered in hay, it is like something I have never seen before.”

The farmer managed to move the trailer out of the way and soon managed to stack the bales back up and clear the road of hay, Mr Tyler said.

Sian George, Dyfed Powys Police spokeswoman, said officers assisted with traffic management when the clear-up was taking place.

By Andrew Morris