TOMMY the bull has escaped the slaughterhouse and is enjoying being a hit with the ladies again thanks to the hands-on approach of a Cheltenham physiotherapist.

The future looked bleak for Tommy when he injured himself in the field, developed a painful limp and lost interest in his heifers.

As a lame bull is not only useless to a farmer, but a drain on finances, a trip to the market looked likely.

But then physio Hannah Ashton agreed to try alternative therapies on the one-and-a-half-tonne animal when drugs failed to do the job.

After a three-course treatment of physiotherapy, including hands-on manipulation, Hannah got Tommy back on all four feet.

Now he is undergoing a couple of sessions of acupuncture, too.

Hannah runs Cotswold Horse and Hound Physiotherapy in Cheltenham but was surprised when approached by Alan Hocken, farmer at Grange Farm near Bishop's Cleeve, to treat his bull.

Confident

She said: "I was confident I could help.

"A friend of mine in Ireland has been working with dairy cows and I knew that her farmer clients had saved thousands through her work with their herds.

"I was keen to see what I could do for this bull.

"I think Alan was quite dubious at first and perhaps didn't really think it would make a difference but he was willing to give it a go."

Hannah used a variety of techniques to work on the bull's pelvic area, including a cold laser machine and straightforward manipulation.

Hannah said: "I got a phone call from Alan after the second session and he was quite cross because Tommy had managed to break out of his pen and reach a group of nearby heifers.

"It was clear he was feeling fit enough to return to his duties so the physio had been successful."

Alan admitted that he was initially dubious. He said: "After a couple of sessions Tommy was doing great and we let him out to approach the cows. He seemed back on form."

Hannah has now been approached to look at an alpaca.