A MAN suffered serious head injuries when a heifer tried to jump out of the ring at York's cattle market.

A fellow visitor to the auction, which was being held by Stephensons, said the victim, who is in his 40s, was sitting at the side of the ring in the buyers' section at York Livestock Centre in Murton Road, Murton, at around 1pm, when the incident happened.

A heifer which was for sale rammed into the railings, and tried to jump out of the ring. The man was knocked from his seat and into a wall where he banged his head, knocking him unconscious.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it had been called to the market and took the man, who has not yet been named, to York Hospital.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said he was suffering from "serious head injuries".

The witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "I've seen them attack the railings but never to dislodge all the top stall bars.

"The guy was in a terrible condition."

The man said heifers often became very excited because there were bullocks at the market as well.

A spokeswoman for the National Farmers' Union said heifers - which are cows which have not yet given birth - could weigh around half-a-tonne.

She said: "Cattle are very large animals but farmers and market staff work with them every day. It's a very unfortunate accident but thankfully these accidents happen rarely."

She said that people who worked with the animals every day often had a "sixth sense" that something was about to happen, although obviously this had not happened on this occasion.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said they had not been informed of the accident but the livestock market had up to ten days to report incidents depending on the circumstances surrounding them.

The Press contacted auctioneers Stephensons several times yesterday, but no one was available for comment.