I was stunned after an irate driver phoned my farm complaining about age-old tradition of cows crossing road

A farmer was left stunned when an irate motorist blasted their 60-year-old tradition of moving cattle across a road as “inconsiderate” to commuters.

Margaret Lees, 53, whose in-laws started Park Farm in Walmersley, Greater Manchester, in 1958, moves her cows to their pasture twice a day between April and October. And she says many locals love seeing her 50-strong dairy herd and their calves spend five minutes crossing Manchester Road in the village.

But last week, the brief pause in traffic at 8.30am caused one driver to phone up her farm shop and rage at her employees about the rural practice.

Margaret said: “We wave the traffic down, the traffic stops, the cows go down the road, and they walk up to the farm shop and into the field.

“Most people know, and take photos of them going across, and it’s a tradition that’s been happening for the last 60 years. 

“It mustn’t have suited this guy, and he basically took out his frustration on a lady in the shop who just answered the phone. He basically said that it’s 'inconsiderate of us' crossing the cows over when it's rush hour and people are 'trying to get to work.’”

After posting about the incident on Facebook, Margaret received lots of support from the local community and says she has not been put off by the criticism and that the age-old tradition will continue.