Have you herd?

RESIDENTS of the Parklands estate in Ballymoney are counting the cost of a recent rampage of cattle.

As reported in last week's paper police said they were investigating how cattle came to be in the estate off the Bravallen Road.

But it has emerged that this was no day-time stampede through the estate but instead it was the middle of the night.

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Bleary-eyed householders must have thought they were still dreaming when they were rudely awakened at 3.30am but it wasn't sheep they were counting ... but cattle.

As residents rubbed the sleep from their eyes they watched as cattle roamed across lawns munching grass.

Plants were also eaten, ornaments were overturned and a van was even damaged.

Hundreds of hoof marks - and other less savoury reminders of the bovine invasion - were visible last week in gardens and footpaths at Parklands.

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Parklands resident Lorraine Patterson said people awoke to find a herd of cattle rampaging through the estate.

"Nobody could believe what happened and those who saw this at that time of the morning must have thought they were dreaming," she said.

She said her husband's van was dented and damage was also caused to a wing mirror.

And another resident told the Times 500 worth of damage was caused to his lawn.

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He said: "I was one of the people's whose garden was destroyed. We were awakened by the sound of the cattle's hooves on the road around 3.30am.

"When I looked out the window it was the last thing I expected to see in my garden at that time of the night.

"There were between eight to ten cows in my garden and as I went out the door they bolted. By the time I went back and got my shoes on and went on down the avenue there was only one cow left and the others had disappeared.

"Some people might try to trivalise this whole thing but it was not funny. The estimated cost I received for fixing the damage to my lawn was 500," said the man.

He said people were wondering how they can be compensated for the damage.

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