THE BADLY-injured victim of a bullock on the rampage today told the Evening Press of his ordeal.

Arthur Bowns, 80, of Pickering, called for those in charge of Malton's cattle market to take steps to make sure nothing like it could happen again.

Despite suffering concussion, two black eyes and severe cuts and bruising, Mr Bowns has said he was "lucky".

Mr Bowns, who is a Freeman of Pickering, told how he was on his way to a meeting when he came face to face with the bullock on Tuesday.

He said: "I remember confronting the beast, and it was obviously frightened.

"It was seven or eight yards away, no more than that, and coming towards me. I tried to move away from it, and I must have been knocked unconscious, as that is the last thing I have a definite memory of until I came to in the ambulance."

Mr Bowns later learned that the bullock had butted him, spinning him around and throwing him to the floor. He is not sure if he was trodden on, but said his side was "very sore indeed".

Apart from being knocked unconscious in the accident, Mr Bowns suffered lacerations to his hand and his head, bruising to his chest and was taken to York District Hospital, where he was detained for five hours.

He continued: "I can't remember what my immediate reaction was when I learned what had happened, but after it had had time to sink in, both my wife, Halley, and I became rather angry. If the animal had collided with a group of pensioners, mothers with children, a crocodile of schoolchildren, then the consequences could have been much worse."

It was this concern for public safety that led Mr Bowns to decide to speak to the Evening Press, he said. Mrs Bowns added: "We don't want to say much more than that at the moment, other than this was a serious incident and we feel something should be done.

"Yes, Arthur was lucky, in a way, but the outcome could have been much worse."

James Stevenson, from Malton Livestock Market, said the bullock's escape was a "freak accident".

"As such, one can only do one's best to guard against these things," he said.

"We have already addressed the circumstances of the accident and will take measures to ensure it does not happen again."

Rail services ground to a halt when the animal ran on to the railway lines at Norton.

The bullock was eventually cornered when it wandered on to land near Kwik Save and a police marksman shot it dead.

EXCLUSIVE by Richard Edwards