Families saddled with tethered horse

A horse was left tethered to a bench outside Black Country flats, sparking an RSPCA investigation.

Families woke up to the sight of the animal grazing in Whateley Avenue, Blakenall, Walsall yesterday.

Blakenall Councillor Pete Smith spotted the mammal while leafleting and took the picture, left.

"The horse was munching away at the grassed areas and for a moment I wondered if Walsall Housing Group (WHG) had come up with a novel idea to save money on grass cutting," he said.

"I informed WHG about the horse on its land and it seems that they are aware of it and dealing with the situation.

"I just hope in the interests of health and safety, and given that the half term school holiday has started that children playing in this area are safe and indeed that the horse itself is safe.

"It does not seem to be the ideal location to tether a horse."

Spokeswoman for WHG Laura Masters said: "We are aware of the horse and we are trying to find out who it belongs to.

"We have contacted the RSPCA, who will be investigating in the next 24 hours because there's no water and not much for it to eat." Recently, tethered horses have caused a problem in other parts of the Black Country recently. Animal welfare officers launched an investigation after finding two stray horses wandering the streets of Stourbridge.

The brown and grey horses were collected from Allan Close on January 29 after residents contacted the RSPCA raising concerns over their safety.

It comes after staff at The Wordsley School, in Brierley Hill Road, were having to chase off stray horses which wander onto the grounds.

A woman also escaped injury when a horse bolted in front of her car in Pensnett Road, Dudley, last month.