OVER 1,000 chickens were running loose on a roundabout following a road incident.

The fully-grown hens escaped from crates that fell from a farm trailer as it was being towed by a tractor around a roundabout at Edinburgh Way, near Harlow Town Station, Essex, at 7am today.

Several hundred birds died but an estimated 1,000 scattered across the roundabout and nearby roads.

Essex Police road policing officers and officers from Harlow police station, joined by numerous members of the public, took several hours to round up the birds and keep them in makeshift pens until they could be loaded on to another vehicle.

Pc Sue Keel, of Chigwell Road Policing Unit, said: “We were helped by commuters who were on their way to the station and drivers of vehicles that were caught in the long traffic tailbacks. People were running about and diving to catch some of the birds.

“It was a very difficult job and we were very grateful for the help from the public.”

The birds were being transported from a farm in Roydon to a site in Hertfordshire when the incident happened.

The road was cleared by about 10.45am.