Herdsman Mike Scrivin has spoken of his ordeal after he was trampled by a cow at a farm in Dyrham, near Marshfield.

Mr Scrivin, 46, was airlifted to hospital with spinal injuries after the freak accident in Talbot Farm near Dyrham Park on Monday afternoon.

It comes just days after a 49-year-old woman from Warrington was trampled to death by a herd of cattle in the Yorkshire Dales.

Mr Scrivin, who was discharged from Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital on Tuesday, said: “I just couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Sometimes if you have a dog with you, the cows can become aggresive, but I just didn’t expect it from her because the cow is quite lame.

“I was walking in from the field and I thought she was following me in then all of a sudden, she bolted me to the ground from behind.

“As I struggled to get away, she mauled her head into me and trampled on my stomach and my back and I just couldn’t move.

“I laid there for about an hour in agony, I was really scared. I eventually managed to fumble for my mobile phone and rang the lad on the farm and he came and recovered me.”

Mr Scrivin, who has been in farming for 30 years, had a titanium rod fitted in his back after he was trampled by a bull five years ago.

Because of his past injuries, ambulance crews immediately called for the air ambulance when they arrived at the scene.

Mr Scrivin added: “I was really worried about my back because I have had a lot of problems with it.

“The doctors were worried that I could be paralysed and said if I had been any smaller, my injuries could have been a lot worse.”

His wife Tracy, 46, praised both land and air ambulance crews.

She said: “The ambulance crews were just wonderful.

“They put him on the stretcher when they arrived, but because of his back problems, they were worried about carrying him across the bumpy field so they called the helicopter in.

“They were all here so quickly, which is brilliant considering we are in the middle of nowhere.

“This just shows any animal can turn on you at any time.”