A hilarious video of a Cheddleton postman being chased down a road by an angry pheasant has gone viral after it was posted by a local window cleaner.

The video shows postie Mark Brough being attacked by the furious pheasant on Vale View while trying to do his rounds.

It was taken by window cleaner Chris Stubbs, who sits in his van and chuckles at the incident before exchanging some friendly banter with the postie after the pheasant eventually calms down.

In the video (which can be watched at the top of this article), Chris can be heard saying "attack of the pheasant!" as it chases Mark, who tries to shoo it away with his post bag, but to no avail.

The video has since gone somewhat viral, with the original video receiving over 11,000 views as well as being reported in the national press.

Nearby residents have also commented to explain that the angry pheasant is a regular occurrence in Cheddleton, with others also having their own hair-raising experiences with the bird.

Mark eventually gives up on trying to shoo the pheasant away and instead resorts to pleading with it to "calm down", which seems to work as it eventually makes its way down the road - possibly in preparation for its next victim.

But why do pheasants sometimes become aggressive and chase people?

Many birds are shy and usually see humans as predators, causing them to stay away.

This includes pheasants, who will usually run away if they see or hear a human approaching.

However, some can become aggressive on less common occasions, and this Cheddleton incident is definitely not a one-off, with many pheasant attacks on humans being reported.

A pheasant can sometimes become aggressive if it believes you are threatening its young or approaching its nest, especially if it is trying to protect its eggs.

They may also attack during the breeding season, again, especially if they are defending their young or their nests.

A pheasant might also become aggressive if it sees or smells any food you might be carrying that it wants to eat.

However, this aggressive behaviour is only performed to scare away threats, rather than actually harm them, so the best thing to do if you become a victim is usually to simply walk (or run) away!

They can also sometimes be scared off by shiny, reflective items, dogs, or repellent sprays, but you should be careful with these so as not to harm the pheasant.