THREE horses in Prudhoe have been destroyed after Northumberland County Council rejected an offer from a animal lover to look after them.

The mare, stallion and their foal, which have been in a field near Broomhouse Road for three years, were among 13 horses rounded up across the county last month in a crackdown on illegal grazing.

After hearing that the horses had been impounded, Gillian Smith, from Ovington, contacted the county council offering to care for them.

However, she says her offer was rebuffed by both the council and the horse bailiffs who had taken the animals.

She said: “The council basically just fobbed me off and told me to contact the horse bailiffs.

“I rang them and they were not interested in the horses at all.

“The next thing I heard was that the horses had been euthanised. I was gutted and absolutely livid.”

According to the Control of Horses Act 2015 local authorities have the power to detain a horse in any public place in its area provided they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe the horse is there without lawful authority.

After the 13 horses were rounded up, seizure notices were placed on the land and owners were given 96 hours to collect the horses on payment of costs.

However, the county council has confirmed all 13 horses were destroyed earlier this month after nobody had came forward to claim them. It said attempts to rehome them had been exhausted.

But Gillian, a healthcare assistant who keeps horses at a local farm said: “If they had done what they claimed and really tried to get them re-homed then fair enough. But to say they had when they hadn’t really really angers me.

“Illegal grazing is not the horses’ fault. I just wanted to give them a happy home.

“I have rescued horses before and if need be I would have found homes for all 13 of them.

“My friend’s daughter and her friend spent two days pulling ragwort out of the field because it’s poisonous to horses. They did that because they cared about them. What has happened is heartbreaking.”

Prudhoe resident Sally Law was also furious at the council’s actions.

She said: “I used to go down to feed them every day. They meant a lot to me and every time they saw you they would come running to you.

“They were very popular in the town and it’s a loss for the whole community.

“I was gutted when I heard what had happened. I try to avoid going down there now because not seeing them there in the field upsets me.

“My neighbour used to take her son to see them and now she doesn’t know what to tell him.”

A spokesman from the county council said: “As with all operations of this nature we follow the requirements of the legislation and in the first instance, the owner has 96 hours to reclaim the horse. Following this period, if the owner has failed to do so, attempts are then made to re-home the horse through partner agencies such as the RSPCA, BHS and other charitable organisations.

“However re-homing is becoming increasingly difficult, both regionally and nationally, due to the number of horses being grazed illegally or abandoned. It is only after these options are exhausted that the animal is euthanised.

“Ultimately this is a question of responsible ownership and people should be certain before buying a horse, that they are able to look after it and have made adequate legal provision for grazing“