A VAN smashed into a flock of sheep leaving eight dead in a 'horrific' incident. 

The farmer who owns the sheep found five of them trapped underneath the Vauxhall Movano on the B4208, next to Comb Green, in Birtsmorton, Worcestershire.

He found that one of them was still alive under the van and freed it along with the others, however he had to shoot the sheep shortly afterwards due to the severity of its injuries.

The farmer, who is in his late 60s, later discovered three of his other sheep had died as a result of the incident and were scattered around the area, with one stuck in a hedge.

Police were called to the scene at 4.55pm yesterday (December 22) although no arrests were made.

The road was partially blocked due to the incident and Highways were sent to clean up the mess.

Sammie Shail, the farmer's daughter, said: “My dad had to drag five sheep from underneath a van.

“Three sheep were also hit yesterday morning in the same stretch of road, two dead at the scene and one badly injured.

"My dad said yesterday 'it doesn't rain, it pours'. Over the years we have had quite a few hit by cars but it was a bad day yesterday.

"We have never had anything as bad as this happen.

“I want people to be aware of the damage they can cause when they speed.”

Ms Shail, who lives in Golden Valley, in Castlemorton, says one of the sheep was catapulted to the other side of the road by the van.

Her dad has 200 sheep on the green, which they have common rights to use, and another 200 sheep elsewhere.

Gillian Bolton, 69, who lives in Welland, drove past the incident and described it as 'horrific'.

"It just looked horrendous. Seeing those sheep under there and not knowing if there was anything dead or not," she said.

The van, which was carrying a trailer, had to be towed away after the crash.