Emusing runaway Emu in Tollesbury, England surprises locals as it runs through the snow

A emu named Farage escaped its home in Tollesbury, England to run through the snow. Picture: TwitterSource:Supplied

WELL, you don’t see this everyday.

A runaway emu has surprised locals as it ran through the snowy streets and a graveyard in Tollesbury, near Essex in England.

Tollesbury’s resident emu (yes, emu) got out this morning and has now been safely herded home. #Essex #snow pic.twitter.com/x1CsRiIDrY

— Harriet Balcombe (@harrietewstack)

“We were all preparing to go out in the snow and suddenly I saw it run past me — we were all a bit shocked it had got out,” local man Matthew Devonport toldEssex Live. “I was going up to the recreation ground with my son George and his two friends … we came up to the churchyard and there was an emu there running through the gravestones.”

“Around three men cornered it and kind of shooed it to the other side where it lives,” he said. “One of the men managed to get it in a headlock by its neck and he was taken back home.”

Only in tollesbury would you see an emu escaping in the snow pic.twitter.com/hr7aSO2kVN

— jazzy (@jazz_emson)

While it may be a long way from Australia, Jasmin Emson said the bird was now a local and belonged to an elderly lady in the village.

“It’s called Farage and [it] lives next to the church,” she told the East Anglian Times.

Mr Devonport said Farage’s owner was “very grateful” for the emu’s return.

“I was absolutely flabbergasted,” Mr Devonport said. “Nothing like this ever happens in Tollesbury!”

It is unclear why the woman has a native Australian bird as a pet.