Horses loose in Singleton in January last year

by Jamie Bullen

jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

Horses straying onto roads – including those next to the country’s busiest motorway – cost police more than £100,000 last year.

Police spent £101,259 in transportation, stable and care costs after being called out to numerous emergencies across Kent.

In Dartford alone, they have attended 360 incidents of horses straying onto roads – putting motorists and passengers’ lives at risk as well as their own – since June 2009, including roads next to Bluewater, Darent Valley Hospital and the M25.

This year, officers have dealt with 39 incidents with 21 of them in Cotton Lane, Stone, where horses are believed to be kept by travellers.

Last month, officers were called out five times to attend incidents in Dartford including one case where a horse was heading towards the M25.

The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Chief Inspector Nikki Faulconbridge said straying horses were a problem across the country and officers were carrying out a review to reduce costs.

She said: “This is not a simple issue to address - there is a real need for all horse owners to take responsibility for their animals and their safety, preventing them from straying.”

Owners are required to re-imburse police costs for transportation, stable and care costs but some do not step forward.

Additionally, some horses are not micro-chipped which makes it difficult to identify the owners.

Dartford council’s enforcement manager Colin Newmarch said there were no horses on council land and that work was being done to take action against irresponsible owners.

He said: “This is a massive problem across the whole of the country not just Dartford. From our point of view we can’t enforce anything on private land owners; we can persuade them to take action but it can be very difficult.”

The figures also show there have been more than 100 incidents of other animals straying onto the road – including sheep, goats, dogs and a bull – since June 2009.

Chairman of Stone parish council John Burrell added: “It does seem this is a problem in north Kent.”