10/02/11…….Thame driver’s lucky escape from MOO-nlight encounter!

A Thame man is counting himself very lucky after a bizarre incident on his way back to Thame from Haddenham in the early hours of last Saturday morning.

Angus Lachlan, from Queens Road, Thame, told ThameNews.Net the full story: “I had just driven down the hill on the Aylesbury Road by Scotsgrove Farm, towards Thame when it happened. It was raining and I had my lights on dipped, doing about 40mph. I suddenly saw a whole line of eyes across the road coming straight at me!

“I soon realised that it was a herd of stampeding cows! I hit the brakes and felt a huge bump – the windscreen shattered and I was thrown forward on the seat belt. There were cows all around me. The next thing I remembered was the sound of the herd coming back down the hill and running past my car again, heading towards the Esso garage. I thought, ‘I’m not getting out of the car!’ After, what seemed about five minutes I was rescued by a van driver who was passing and got my car door open and called the police and ambulance.

“Although I was unconscious at first, I was pretty much OK, apart from whiplash and a bump on my head. I said to the police that I must have killed the cow that I hit but they said there was nothing in the road except a large cow with a bit of blood on it, standing and staring at us, before running off! A cow had jumped on my bonnet, smashed the windscreen, bounced on my roof and jumped off.

“The next day I inspected the damage – my car is a write-off! All the cows were rounded up including a calf which was lost for 24 hours, and all are OK. The doctor has advised me not to drive for a bit, but it looks like I was saved by solid German car construction and a very bouncy cow; I can’t help thinking that if I had been driving a convertible, I wouldn’t be recounting the incident now!”

It was very windy on Friday night (Feb 11) through Saturday morning and it is thought that a gate was blown down allowing the cows to stray from their field. Panic may have set in when they found themselves in the road, especially as there were many calves among the herd.

The farmer has apologised to Angus.

PHOTO: Angus Lochlan’s car after a cow had hit the windscreen and bounced off the roof