160 horses are seized in crackdown on strays

Almost 160 horses have been rounded up from the streets of Dudley since a pilot project run by police began a year ago.

The number of calls about the stray animals has also dropped with fewer sightings reported to the council, police said.

New measures to help control wandering horses and remove them from danger were introduced in April last year. It followed a surge in complaints from residents about the stray animals running out in front of moving cars and trampling their way through gardens.

Police began responding to calls from the public after Dudley Council found an ancient by-law giving them the power to remove the animals from roads in the borough. The scheme was originally a six-month trial but it was extended after it proved a success.

Sgt Cliff Tomkinson, who has been leading the project, said the problem had been "much bigger" than was first thought and officers had been shocked by the number of horses needing to be taken in.

They have now rescued 159 horses, which are being cared for and found new homes at a site outside the Black Country.

Sgt Tomkinson said: "We are really pleased with how it has gone. I don't think we realised how big the problem was. But we've got a hold on it now and the number of calls have been steadily dropping."

Many of the horses have been taken in from Brockmoor and Pensnett.

Police say the horses are kept for three days and if the owner cannot be contacted or does not come forward with ownership proof and settle fines, they are found new homes.

Section 24 of the Town and Police Clauses Act 1847 states that police can seize and impound cattle which strays onto a public highway.

Until the new agreement, the council had been paying an outside agency around £20,000 a year to impound horses. Stray horses have also been blighting other areas of the Black Country with problems reported in Bloxwich and Willenhall in Walsall and Tipton in Sandwell.