An elderly man has suffered serious injuries after being attacked and trampled by a “dangerously out of control” cow, police said.

Dyfed-Powys Police were called to the town of Whitland, Carmarthenshire, at about 10.15am on Saturday, after reports that a cow had escaped from Whitland Mart.

A force spokeswoman said: “Dyfed-Powys Police received reports at approximately 10.15am this morning of a cow dangerously out of control in Whitland.

“The cow had escaped from Whitland Mart, and made its way to the centre of the village. It came across an elderly man in North Road, where it attacked and trampled him, causing serious injury.

“The man was conveyed by air ambulance to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

“The cow then went on the rail track in the area, and trains had to be put on stop to mitigate the danger to them.

“Eventually, it made its way to a field, where every effort was made to safely contain it in consultation with the owner.

“Unfortunately, all attempts failed, and due to the danger posed by the animal it was humanely dispatched with the consent of the owner.”

The police spokeswoman added that the Health and Safety Executive had been informed.

A Health and Safety Executive spokesperson said: “HSE is aware of an incident and is making initial enquiries.”

Wales Air Ambulance confirmed that a crew attended the incident.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Our Dafen-based crew were mobile at 10.37am and arrived on scene at 10.53am.

“Following treatment from our onboard medics, we airlifted a patient to hospital. Our involvement concluded at 1.20pm.”