Tayto Park has confirmed that it was forced to put its Animal Escape Plan into action after three bison escaped their enclosure earlier this year.

Visitors to the park were forced to shelter in a gift shop during the incident on March 27th.

The animals were initially spotted near one of the Meath attraction's theme park rides and all visitors were moved to the gift shop.

They were confined there until the Bison Herd Manager arrived to deal with the situation.

Staff members worked together to return the animals to their enclosure and the section of fence they escaped through was repaired.

A Tayto Park spokesperson said: “Within two minutes of being notified, there were multiple members of the zookeeping staff implementing our Animal Escape Plan and herding the bison back to its paddock.

“Guests were allowed to leave the confines of the retail shop within 10 minutes of the event first being notified.”

The park said one female bison and two juveniles were involved in the escape

It said the park was not evacuated as the animals had not entered an area that was open to the public.