AN escaped cow held up traffic on the A35 this afternoon before it was moved on by a trio of charity volunteers.

Robert Worsfold, Mark Bartlett and David Chissell were transporting equipment for the Camp Amazing event in Lytchett Minster this weekend when they came across the beast near the Baker's Arms roundabout.

"The cow was running all over the place, so we managed to block the road with the truck and got out to try and get it back into the field," said Mr Worsfold, 40.

"None of us knew how to get it to move so we just ran up and down waving our arms and tried to keep it from moving into the other carriageway.

"We were running around out there for about 20 minutes but eventually we managed to get it back into the field by breaking the fence.

"It was good fun really."

Dorset Police attended the incident, which occurred at around 3.30pm, and supervised the road closure.

A spokesman said the "mostly black" animal was back in the field and the fence repaired by 4.15pm.

Camp Amazing is an event for children with disabilities and special needs, and focuses on sensory activities.