Shocked residents have found a number of ewes grazing in the old cemetery in Brampton after making a great escape from their field.

The cemetery, at the end of Old Church Lane, is home to many historical gravestones, with some dating back to the 1600s there is also a number of war graves and others that relatives who live in the town still tend.

The pesky ewes have been spotted munching their way round the graveyard, after sneaking through a hole in the fence, one shocked resident Paul Grindley said: "I was out for a walk and went into Brampton Old Church yard and was surprised to see eleven sheep wandering around the headstones and eating the grass and doing whatever else sheep do."

The cemetery which is maintained by Carlisle City Council, appears to have a hole in the fence which is where the sheep are getting in to the churchyard. A spokesperson for the City Council said: “Our Green Spaces team is looking into how the sheep have entered the land and will assess the impact.”

When asked about the the sheep in the graveyard Parish Council Chairman David Moorat said: "In a way it might be a good idea because it will keep the grass down. I don't see any problems whatsoever. I do know that it is a problem to keep the grass down in the church, it used to be manicured very carefully but the the decision was made that it would be better to let it grow into a wildlife cemetery. "

Resident who live near by and did not want to be named said: "We're not to fussed about the sheep in the graveyard, people just need to make sure that they close the gate so they (the sheep) don't get on the road."

David Moorat continued: "When it was all manicured there were hardly any wildlife there at all but, now that the grass grows there is beetles and birds and goodness knows what else. Its about restoring life to what used to be a very deadly area. We at the parish council would certainly encourage the old church yard be a wild grave yard rather than a manicured one. If the sheep are in there I can't see that they're going to do any harm personally but perhaps the local farmer who owns the sheep needs to find out they have got in there."

For the moment it appears that the sheep are having a ewely good time eating their way through the extra vegetation that is on offer.