Fire crews' deja moo as second bullock needs rescuing from Shrewsbury hole

The animal became stuck in the same hole as the one that swallowed up another cow on Saturday morning.

It required another two-hour operation to pluck the latest unfortunate animal to safety.

The bullock was discovered by Matthew Ashton, from Porthill, who was out walking his dogs in Shrewsbury with his children.

After calling the fire brigade, teams arrived on scene and started work on the rescue operation to winch the animal free using harnesses.

The operation started at about 7pm and was completed at 9pm, as crews had to wait for a vet to sedate the bullock.

Mr Ashton said: "I was walking our dogs with my children when our spaniel, Poppy, ran to the temporary fence around the hole interested in something behind it.

"She returned several times and as I knew this was where a bullock got stuck originally, I thought surely there wasn't another cow stuck but when I looked into the hole there it was. I called the fire brigade and the lady at the control room was the same one who had taken the call on Saturday. She couldn't believe another cow was stuck in the same hole."

Steve Worrall, assistant chief fire officer for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the authority would now be asking land owners Shrewsbury School to put up a permanent barrier to prevent further mishaps, with concerns that the next victim of the hole could be a human.

He said the operation, between the Pengwern and Shrewsbury School boat clubs, was identical to that carried out before – although it was a different bullock.

"It was the same scenario. We were surprised and the frustrating issue is, following Saturday's event, a temporary barrier had been erected to keep pedestrians away and that barrier had been removed," he said,

"It could well have been a member of the public that could have fallen down the same hole."

He said the soil erosion behind railway sleepers had created a crevasse.