Wildlife Trust in legal battle to moo-ve cows from nature reserve near Bedford

The owner of the dozen cows was given grazing rights for three months by the Bedfordshire, Cambridegshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust.

But once all the grass had gone, the owner said he was unable to move them as agreed, the T&C can reveal.

This sparked fears that the cows , some of which are in calf, were slowly starving.

The wildlife trust has now stepped in and is giving the animals daily hay and liquid feed.

Meanwhile RSPCA experts have been out to inspect the herd, and even the council’s trading standards department has become involved.

“Moving cows these days is difficult because of TB regulations. Every cow has a passport, which has to be produced before they are moved to another area,” said a spokesman for the trust.

“We don’t have these passports and the owner has not produced them yet. This is why trading standards officials have to be involved.”

The spokesman added: “We are currently looking at what legal proceedings are available to us to get the cows moved somewhere more suitable before the weather gets really cold.

“This is just not a suitable site for cows to remain during the winter.”

To make matters worse, one calf has already been born but its mother had to be put down due to an “unfortunate accident”, said the trust.