Put roaming cows in hi-viz jackets?

London: The farmers are in no doubt — it is a “ridiculous” idea and a prime example of health and safety gone mad. A council has suggested they dress their cows in high-visibility jackets with lights around their necks after several have been struck by cars on the green at Hungerford, Berks.

The proposal, which would create a herd of “disco” cattle and light up the local common, was put forward as a means of allowing the animals to graze in safety in poor light. Last month, one cow was so badly hurt it had to be put down by a vet.

Farmers said they have spent several years trying to persuade the local authority to introduce traffic-calming measures to stop motorists driving through the common at high speed. But there was a collective rolling of eyes when it was suggested this week that the cows be dressed in fluorescent jackets and luminous bands. Martin Crane, the mayor of Hungerford, even proposed the animals wear strings of flashing lights. Perhaps fortunately for the 175-strong herd in question, the measure was deemed too costly and would have left either the council or the farmers pounds 3,000 (Dh17,048) out of pocket.

Roger Denton, who keeps around 25 cows on the land during the summer, said: “I think it’s ridiculous. The bottom line is that it’s all down to the speed of cars.

“If a cow had a fluorescent strip around its neck, you wouldn’t be able to see it if it had its back to you or if it was facing you head on.” He said the cows would “only get the collars off anyway and litter them all over the common”.

Denton claimed motorists could see the cows, but still opted to drive too fast, despite the 64km/h limit.

The land forms part of an estate owned by The Town and Manor of Hungerford and is managed by its trustees. Robert James, the trustee responsible for maintaining the land, said there were often collisions with the cows on the common, but that the cars tended to come off worse. He agreed with the farmers that dressing the cattle up in luminous outfits was not the answer. “They would just pull it off in hedgerows and shrubs,” he said. “It’s been raised as a possibility by the council more than once, but no one is keen.

“I’ve told them lots of times, but they keep coming up with the same idea.”

Crane admitted that he had, perhaps, taken the idea too far with talk of flashing lights and fluorescent jackets. But he insisted that the protection of the grazing herd was a serious problem that needed further consideration. Although the Hungerford cattle are unlikely to be lighting up the common in the immediate future, a pilot project to fit cows with reflective collars is under way in Gloucestershire. About 500 cows were fitted with the collars in Minchinhampton, Selsley and Rodborough commons near Stroud after 17 cows were hit by cars in two years.