Stray horses can cause serious or even fatal injuries to both the animal and other road users when involved in collisions.

We work in partnership with the horse charity Redwings to deal with loose horses on Norfolk’s roads.

The partnership is a pioneering one and sets a clear policy for the Hapton-based charity to assist us if we are unable to establish the owner of a stray animal.

In this instance trained Redwings staff will capture the animal and take it to an appropriate and secure location, thereby making the road safe and allowing us to focus on tracing the owner.

We also work in partnership with Farmwatch Ltd which has created a database for horse owners to register their animals. If a horse owner is identified by this database they will be contacted to arrange recovery of the animal prior to the call-out of Redwings thereby reducing unnecessary costs and time.

Most horse owners are extremely responsible and take great pride in the care of their animals. However we would urge horse owners to:

• keep fields and fences properly maintained
• ensure gates are kept secured with a lock and chain to prevent malicious acts of releasing the animals.

If you discover a horse or pony that appears to be loose or straying the advice would be to alert us straight away, particularly if the equine is on a public highway or in an unsecured area of land. Try and make your description of its location as detailed as possible.