A FARMER has warned children they will be putting themselves in danger by playing in fields that will soon be home to an amorous bull and his many girlfriends.

Farmer Tim Handy said he had been called out by a member of the public after two girls aged six and seven were found unsupervised in a field with his cows and their calves at dusk recently.

Now, with one-tonne bull Drake due to be let loose in a field with a number of cows, he has urged parents to keep their children out to prevent something terrible happening.

He said: “If a cow wants to protect her calf no child would stand a chance.

Drake is very protective of his ladies too.

“A week ago on Friday someone rang me up to say there were children in the field with some of the cows. I was expecting to find boys in there, but when I got there it was two girls who were in there drawing a picture of a calf.

Luckily the calf was asleep and didn’t realise what was happening or it would have got up and run.

“To them it was totally innocent, but as we get older we see more of the dangers.

“The field they were in was not on a public right of way, they had crawled through a hedge to get in there. We do try and keep the cows in fields away from public rights of way.

“I am really worried that something terrible could happen.”

He said the cows on a working farm were not the sort of farm animals that parents take their children to see at places like Roves Farm, and he warned people not to disturb Drake or his female companions.

The seven-year-old pedigree British Blue bull is six foot tall to his shoulder and he and his ladies will soon be moved into Cliffords Meadow, which is near Oakhurst, by the old railway line.

Officers from North Swindon Police have also called upon parents to impress the dangers of the situation on their children.

A spokesman said: “Drake is protective of his ladies and his time with them, and doesn’t appreciate anyone interrupting.

“Cows have a strong bond with their calves and will charge as a group to protect them.”