This is the shocking moment a bull that was being chased by another through a narrow street crashed into a shop.

Footage shows a police officer sitting outside a store on a narrow street in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, on August 27.

Upon hearing a loud noise from the entrance of the lane, he stood up and quickly moved away, just before the two beasts collided at the exact spot where he had been seated.

One of the bovines was knocked to the ground, while the officer used a long stick to scare the other away.

Locals arrived and surrounded the injured animal, checking its condition before it managed to stand again.

Research suggests that bulls fight to establish a social hierarchy within their herd, determining who is the dominant male and has the right to breed with the cows. This behaviour is driven by their natural instinct to compete for mating opportunities.

On February 10, another pair of stray bulls was seen fighting outside a police station in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh. Officers gathered inside the station gate, observing the duo before eventually driving them away by spraying water from a hose.

In India, devout locals follow Hindu customs, with cows and bulls regarded as sacred animals that cannot be eaten or slaughtered once they have stopped producing milk. The majority of states ban the sale or slaughter of cows.

Instead of dealing with the economic burden of keeping their spent cattle, many farmers let the beasts roam the streets - leading to chaos when the animals become agitated and turn their fury on humans.