FIREFIGHTERS are warning dog walkers to avoid fields with cows in after a pensioner had to be rescued from up a tree.

The 79-year-old woman had climbed up a hawthorn in Newark and been stuck for two hours after she and her two dogs were chased by a cow and a calf.

She was rescued by firefighters at 5.15pm on Monday from the field near Hatchets Lane after dialling 999 on her mobile.

Brian Smith, watch manager for Newark Fire Station, said he only found the woman after spotting her pet Jack Russell hiding in the long grass beneath the tree, trembling.

Mr Smith said: "We normally save kids up trees but not 79-year-old ladies. I was expecting it to be a child. She said the cows had chased her.

"She did not want to shout in case she alerted the cows again.

"She must have been frightened. She was a bit shaken. She was obviously a bit embarrassed and was apologising. But she could have been killed. We are advising people to avoid fields with cows.

"If you do come across cattle, let go of the dog and the cows will chase them. Dogs will outrun a cow, unless it has arthritis like the lady's little dog did."

Mr Smith highlighted recent national news reports of three people being killed by stampeding cows in just four weeks.

The incidents during June and July, happened in, St Fagans outside Cardiff; Hawes, North Yorkshire and Sheldon, Derbyshire. The lady in Newark was treated for cuts to her hands which she got climbing the hawthorn.

The woman's other dog, a golden retriever, is believed to have scared off the cows while hiding in a bush below the tree.