A farmer from East Ayrshire is trying to track down his herd of cows after eight of the pricey beasts escaped during the night.

David Morton of Morton's Milk and Farm Shop at Auchinbay Farm near Ochiltree has lost eight Belgian blue cows after the animals got loose last night.

The cows are quite remarkable, grey and white, and with an extremely muscular build. It will be quickly apparent to anybody who sees them that they are David's animals.

The cows are worth around £1,100 each.

David, who is away on holiday at the moment, heard the news from his dad, who is looking after the farm in his absence.

The cows were last spotted on Barskimming Road at 5am this morning, but David says that they could have travelled further afield since then.

He said: "We're actually away on holiday right now, but I got the news last night that they'd gone missing. They were last seen at five this morning along the Barskimming Road.

"They can travel up to about 10 miles in a day, depending on what tracks they can get onto. Hopefully they've not got far.

"They're not dangerous, they'd be running away from you before you got close to them.

"It's just a matter of time before we find them. If anybody sees them give me a call on 07875350813."