WHERSTEAD: Drivers on the A14 were forced to dodge a runaway calf who had accidentally strayed onto a busy trunk road.

Suffolk Police said the calf escaped out of its field in Wherstead on Saturday, apparently in search of its mother, after being separated from her just the day before.

The calf first found itself on the A137 near Jimmy’s Farm at around 6.45am, then wandered down the slip road to the westbound carriageway of the A14.

Giving a few drivers a fright in the process, the animal strayed across the road and jumped over the central reservation barrier to the eastbound direction.

Dozens of motorists called the police to alert them to the danger, one of whom said the calf looked very scared and had started running around in a fright.

Five officers attended and set up a rolling roadblock just before the Orwell Bridge to draw the calf off the road, and enlisted the help of a local farmer.

They finally brought the calf to safety by 8.15am, although it is not yet known whether they managed to re-unite it with its mother.