TWO Poulton lads got a pat on the back after they helped save a local farmer's dairy cows from a life on the wrong side of the tracks!

Robert Duckworth, 14, and his friend James Openshaw, 13, both from Millfield High School, Thornton, showed they'd gotta lotta bottle while walking across the fields behind Arundel Drive.

"We were walking towards the golf course when James and I noticed something on the railway lines," said Robert. "I realised it was loads of cows," said James.

"I suppose there were about 50 altogether in two groups. They were heading towards Poulton station and they had got quite a long way down the track," added Robert.

"They had got to the part where the track splits in two," he said, referring to the junction where the track leads off to Blackpool and Fleetwood after leaving the station.

The boys then bravely decided that they would try their best to get them back to where they belong. They found the hole in the fence and moved to cut the herd off further up the track, which is only used occasionally by freight trains.

"It was a bit scary really," said James, "because cows are really big and heavy when you get near them."

"We were worried that we might get trampled," said Robert.

But the boys made some noise and gradually the cows decided to turn and head back.

"Somebody had called the police by this time and they contacted the farmer," said Robert.

"He was really pleased -- the fence had been knocked down and that is how they had escaped onto the track. He gave us both £5 reward -- which was brilliant."

Robert's mother said that she was used to her son coming home late.

"He's always got a good excuse -- but this was the best!"

The fence has now been rebuilt and re-enforced so the cows cannot make good their escaped again. We were unable to contact the farmer for comment.