A FLOCK of sheep ran up and down residential streets and into people’s gardens after escaping from a farm.

Neighbours were amazed to see at least 30 sheep wandering about outside their homes after running away from Stud Farm in Telscombe, near Peacehaven, on Sunday morning.

They spent the day roaming the streets, with some straying almost as far as the A259 South Coast Road, before they were eventually gathered by farmers and helpful neighbours and returned to the fields.

A spokeswoman for Stud Farm said: “They all got out and there is a leader of the flock who all the others usually follow.

“So that explains why so many of them left the farm at once.

“There is a faulty gate that needs fixing, which is why they were able to escape.

“They know where they belong but I think they fancied their chances.

“The neighbours have been fantastic in helping to round them all up.

“Some of them were out in their pyjamas and slippers early in the morning to help.

“It was being fixed yesterday and after the fireworks recently, people might not have pulled the gate shut.”

A number of residents took to Facebook after seeing the flock run amok.

Camilla Jaine Jones posted: “Noticed quite a few of those sheep that had leg injuries up there in the field, who do they belong to?”

Victoria Hadert wrote: “There was a telephone number on the gate at Bevendean Avenue to call to report problems with sheep.

“I called it when I noticed a sheep hardly able to walk. They apparently check them once a week.”

With the help of residents, farmers managed to gather the sheep and return them to the farm by about 6pm.

A Friends of Telscombe Tye spokeswoman said: “There is a ranger that goes round but I wasn’t aware of this issue.

“It is usually up to the council or the farmer to solve but we don’t really get involved.

“We do get a bit of vandalism in the area near the farm so I am not sure if that could be a reason for the faulty gate.”

A Telscombe Town Council spokesman said it was the farm’s responsibility to deal with recovering the sheep and that it had no involvement in capturing the flockand returning them to the farm.

A spokeswoman for East Sussex County Council said: “I’ve checked with our highways department and also with our countryside team and we’ve not had any reports of marauding sheep in the Telscombe area.”