POLICE have praised three teenagers from Tarporley Community High School after their quick thinking and commitment prevented a road accident.

John Buck, Ben Wrigglesworth and James Nixon were walking to James's house on November 3 when the lads came across 15 cows that had strayed from their field near the A54 Kelsall bypass, a busy and dangerous stretch of road.

However, instead of just carrying on their way the boys made their way down to the dual carriageway and carefully began to round up the animals before police arrived at the scene.

John, aged 14, said: "A car skidded to a halt and nearly hit one of the cows, but the driver didn't stop and just drove off.

"James and I ran down the bank and tried to get them all together before the police arrived. They were really glad we helped them out and said 'well done'.

"They asked us if we knew much about cattle and we said not really - although growing up around Kelsall has meant that we live in quite a rural area so maybe that's how we knew what to do."

James, aged 13, said: "Everyone was quite chuffed that nothing went wrong.

"The cows could have been injured quite badly if they had been hit by a car, so I'm just glad we managed to get them all out of the way."

Sergeant Paul Sutton of Cheshire Police praised the three lads' actions.

He said: "John, James and Ben assisted officers to round up the cattle and led them a considerable distance to an empty field which they themselves had found.

"They then went to fetch the farmer and boarded up the hole in the fence - in the process they ended up extremely dirty and covered in mud!

"I would like to thank these young men for their invaluable assistance and very public spirited actions.

"It is a great comfort to us to know that there are young people such as these who are willing to give their time to offer assistance when it is needed.

"They are a credit to themselves, their families and Tarporley Community High and we commend them for their actions."

rfraser@guardiangrp.co.uk