A GRANDMOTHER froze in fear before being struck by a rampaging bull that had escaped from a slaughterhouse.

The 63-year-old, who had been walking to church in Hartburn, Stockton, was left with a fractured hip after the animal charged her.

Shocked residents inundated police with calls after the bull and a cow fled from Cleveland Meat Company Ltd, in Yarm Road, Stockton, shortly before 9.30am, yesterday.

The terrified victim, from the Willowdene Avenue area, was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees for treatment.

She told an eyewitness: “It charged over the humpback bridge towards me and I landed on my hip.

“I saw it coming towards me. Everything seemed to stop and I just froze.”

The animal, which escaped after breaking down a fence at the abattoir, was seen in a number of streets and in the popular Ropner Park, before it was cornered in Brisbane Grove, near Hartburn Primary School.

Residents spoke of their shock at seeing the animals on the loose.

One said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the bull running past my house. It was a shock.”

Another said: “I saw all the police cars and an ambulance, I didn’t know what was going on until someone told me.

“It is terrible that someone was hurt.”

Resident Shirley Smith, of Yarm Road, said she had seen animals escape from the abattoir before.

“I have lived here for 15 years and I can count more than half-a-dozen times when animals have escaped,”

she said. “Something needs to be done to make the area where the animals are kept more secure.

There should be a contingency plan for if this happens, so the animal is caught before anyone gets hurt.”

Police say the bull was humanely destroyed and the cow was returned to the abattoir after being found in the garden of a house in Yarm Road.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: “The first caller, from Hartburn, reported a bull loose on the road near her home, heading in the direction of the town centre.

“The bull was seen in Arncliffe Avenue and again near Jacksons law firm. It then headed towards Ropner Park and officers called in slaughterhouse staff to assist.

“A cow was also reported as being on the run.”

A spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “We are aware of an incident and we are making initial inquiries.”

The Cleveland Meat Company said it was carrying out an internal investigation and did not wish to make any further comment.