Herd of cows on the tracks at Nuneaton train station cause delays - and lots of jokes

We've all heard of leaves on the line stopping trains - now, in Nuneaton, cows have joined the list of excuses for beleaguered train officials.

The herd of cows strolled gently onto the tracks at Nuneaton station this morning - temporarily bringing rail services to a grinding halt.

But while nobody welcomed the delays, the internet had plenty of fun with the whole episode - although it is not known how many of the cows were simply trying to dodge the fares.

Avanti West Coast announced news of the incident on their Twitter account at around 11.30am today, Friday, May 7.

In a tweet, the rail provider said: "Due to cows on the railway at Nuneaton, all lines are currently blocked. Teams are on site attempting to moooove the herd. Updates to follow shortly."

They couldn't resist a pun - and, sadly, neither could many others.

"I've herd that one before," said one wit.

"Let’s all hope you don’t have an udder problem today," said another.

London North Eastern Railway even chipped in on Twitter to say: "Moooove over, @AvantiWestCoast, these are our puns! How udderly disappointing..."

But despite the annoyance about the disruption on the lines, the traditional British response to a crisis (OK, some cows on the line) quickly came to the fore - people took the mick.

"This is taking 'cattle class' to a whole new level," said one Twitter user.

"Wonder what their beef is," mused another.

"I think they want herd immunity," said a third.

One weary commuter, Paul Lucas, was supposed to be travelling via Nuneaton when the cows undertook their slow but steady expedition down the tracks.

He posted an image showing around 20 cows on the lines.

The good news for commuters was that it wasn't very long before trains were able to get past.

By 11.50am, Avanti's pun-intoxicated Twitter account manager was back online to announce to readers that the lines were clear.

Their tweet said: "Great news! All cows are clear of the railway and have stopped milking the attention."

As for the cows, it's not clear where they've gone, but for everyone's sake, let's hope they find a nice field to wander through - the trainlines can be a nightmare at rush hour on a Friday.