A mother bear and her two cubs stopped traffic as they crossed the road together

A mother bear and two adorable cubs stopped traffic when they crossed the road to get to the forest on the other side.

The bear family was caught on camera rushing over the road before safely dashing into the forest.

Sarah Leland, 47, watched the three brown bears wandering around a nearby cemetery before they made their crossing over Meetinghouse Road in Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA.

She said: "We were very excited to see the bears and to get to watch them for a good amount of time.

"It was amazing to see the two little cubs and to see the way the mama communicated with a head movement for them to climb to safety.

"The cubs were completely adorable scampering up tree trunks.

"There are often reports of bears in yards around here. Or maybe it's the same bear moving around.

"Last spring we had a bear come to our yard and eat all of the bird seed out of the bird feeder."

Sarah and her husband Craig Leland, 45, were driving back from taking some garden waste to a transfer station when she saw three bears meandering about Turkey Hill Graveyard

The high school learning support worker said: "At first they looked like they wanted to cross Turkey Hill road, but it was too busy.

"The mother would occasionally kind of nod her head at the cubs and they would climb up a tree while the mother looked around to make sure it was safe.

"Eventually the mother crossed but the babies didn't follow.

"When the mother turned around to go back for them, my husband decided to pull out and block our lane so no one could pass."

The video was taken on April 10 2021 at about 3.40pm.