IT wasn't so much a bull in a china shop as a steer on a rugby field.

The large male animal was spotted on the loose at Winchester Rugby Club in Hyde by Javaid Akhtar on his way to work yesterday.

Javaid, who runs Gervades dry cleaners on Upper Brook Street, told the Chronicle: " It looked totally confused. It looked like it wanted human contact. I drove past it and it seemed to follow my car.

"It ran off toward the river but it couldn't get across."

The male animal is a steer, not a bull, as it has been castrated.

The steer is thought to have escape from the Winnall Moors nature reserve near the rugby club.

It attracted several comments on the Winchester Pics Facebook page. Gomes Filipe posted: "Oh that's a big boy, they are a bit different from cows how they react. Normally in the farm we use a bucket with some food and they come along lol. But if you not experienced with farm animals i will leave him alone as he can aggressive and they run faster than you haha. Or you can always watch Clarkson Farm haha."

John Arengo-Jones posted on Facebook: "Cow pats all over the place this morning, both my dogs thought it was Christmas and rolled in all of them! Smells like YSL to them!"

Things were resolved in the end. Hampshire Wildlife Trust warden Rachel Remnant posted on Facebook that the steer was back where it should be.

The trust uses the British White cattle to graze its nature reserves. They are well-known for their docility and are now a common sight across the area, grazing in the water meadows at St Cross and Whiteshute Ridge near Badger Farm.