MYSTERY surrounds the shooting of a runaway beast in Ilkley on Sunday

night.

Police and vets were called out after a bull was seen in the Craiglands car park, before heading towards Tesco and the town centre.

They caught up with the creature on Cowpasture Road, shortly after 9pm, where it was killed by police marksmen due to its distressed state.

Days before, a cow had escaped from Ilkley Abattoir, on Little Lane, startling pedestrians on Brook Street, before disappearing onto the moor.

Police say the animal shot was not the cow. But a spokesman for Ilkley Abattoir said they think the animal was the cow that got away. "It is not confirmed but it would appear to be the cow," said the spokesman. "I can only assume its been quite happy in the woods for six days. It was bonfire night on Sunday and that is why it would be so distressed."