The incident happened in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on Saturday morning (Picture: Getty Images)

An elderly man has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked and trampled by a ‘dangerously out of control cow’.

Dyfed-Powys Police received reports at about 10.15am on Saturday that the cow had escaped from Whitland Mart in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and made its way to the centre of Whitland.

A force spokeswoman said: ‘It came across an elderly man in North Road, where it attacked and trampled him, causing serious injury.’

The man was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff by air ambulance.

Police said the cow went onto the rail track in the area, with trains stopped to ‘mitigate the danger to them’.

The spokeswoman went on: ‘Eventually, it made its way to a field, where every effort was made to safely contain it in consultation with the owner.

‘Unfortunately, all attempts failed, and due to the danger posed by the animal it was humanely dispatched with the consent of the owner.’

The police spokeswoman added that the Health and Safety Executive had been informed.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Attempts to safely contain the animal failed and it was ‘humanely dispatched’ with the consent of the owner.