AN Oxfordshire family have told of how they were injured during a shocking cow attack.

A mother, daughter and niece were bloodied and bruised by a stampeding cow – all while the woman’s son, 10, watched on from their rented canal boat.

It was the second incident in the Summerton area near Bicester in as many days, after Banbury MP Victoria Prentis helped a woman who was severely injured by what is thought to have been the same herd.

Having read the Oxford Mail’s story about that trampling, the family - who have asked to remain anonymous - reported the incident to police, who subsequently told them that the herd had been removed from the field.

The mother, 44, explained: “We had stopped to have a picnic and the kids and I went for a walk in a meadow. The cow charged us.

“It took against us, knocked us over and butted my niece in the face.”

She believes the incident went on for around a minute, leaving her niece, five, with a bloody mouth and wobbly teeth, her daughter, seven, with a badly bruised leg and torso as well as herself with bruising, grazes, and a swollen foot.

She added that her son was ‘really traumatised by it’.

“We were [all] very shocked because we weren’t expecting that. We weren’t making loud noise.”

The family are now fine and making a full recovery.

They were on the towpath and do not think they were between a mother and calf when the attack occurred on the Sunday, April 29.

They managed to escape before walkers found and helped them.

The mother said she was 'disappointed' there was nothing to alert walkers, adding: “A farmer has a right to keep their livestock in a field, but I do think that there need to be signs.”

The Canal and River Trust told the family that their health and safety advisor had made a site visit and recommended that warning signs be put up.

In a statement, the National Farmer’s Union said it could not comment on the specific incident, but said: “We take the issue of safety in the countryside very seriously, and will continue to work with the farming industry and other stakeholders to improve safety where possible.

“The majority of incidents involving livestock affect farm workers. The risks to the public are very low, however, we will continue to work with the industry to reduce the risks where possible.”