THE mother of a teenager whose car was written off after he crashed into a horse is calling for owners to stop letting them run loose before someone is killed.

Matthew Seagrave was driving home in the early hours of yesterday when a horse suddenly loomed out of the darkness on the A688 between Bishop Auckland and West Auckland.

The 17-year-old collided with the horse head-on, flipping his Renault Clio and knocking him unconscious.

The horse was killed by the impact.

The Northern Echo: ESCAPED: Horses roam around Bishop Barrington School on December 27

Loose horses at Bishop Barrington School

Matthew's mother, Barbara Phillips, said she doesn’t know how her son survived the incident - but is angry that it could have been avoided if the horse had been properly secured.

She said: “I was in bed asleep when my phone rang and it was Matthew, saying he’d crashed his car and asking if I could go and pick him up.

“When I got there he was lily white and shaken up, but other than a limp, he was ok. His car is a complete mess, I honestly don’t know how he has walked away from it.

“He has been incredibly lucky.”

Matthew had been to his girlfriend’s house and was driving home from Bishop Auckland to Staindrop along the bypass at around 3am.

The Northern Echo: LUCKY: Matthew Seagrave, 17, whose car collided with a horse in Bishop Auckland in the early hours of Sunday morning

Matthew Seagrave

The teenager works as a joiner in Shildon and travels the route regularly to get to and from work.

Miss Phillips, who shared details of the incident on Facebook, added: “Somebody has come forward to say that they reported that horses were on the bypass at 10.15pm last night, if they were moved this might not have happened.

“This could have easily killed my son, something needs to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Everybody knows who these horses belong to, but because they’re from the travelling community nobody is prepared to say anything to them.

“The police should be moving horses off the roads and the owners should be keeping them secured in the first place.”

However, Durham Police said in a statement that they have no record of anybody reporting a horse on the bypass last night.

Inspector Andy Reeves, of Bishop Auckland Neighbourhood Police Team, said in a statement: “We are aware of the ongoing issue with loose horses in the Bishop Auckland area and are working with partner agencies to tackle the problem.

“The vast majority of horse owners are responsible, but we must reiterate the importance keeping your horse safe and secure so they are not able to stray into busy roads.”

County Councillor Rob Yorke also confirmed that he has received reports of loose horses in the area.

He said: “When we receive a report that a horse is loose we report it to enforcement officers who track down the owner, if we can’t do that then the horse is seized.

“It does not matter to the council if the owner is from the travelling community or not, but it can make it more difficult to track owners down.

“It’s an ongoing issue that we have to deal with on an ongoing basis.”

On December 27, more than two dozen horses were spotted roaming around outside Bishop Barrington School, in Woodhouse Lane, in Bishop Auckland.

Simon McKimm, who lives opposite the school, said: “My family called the police three or four times to report the horses but nobody came.

“I walked over to close the gates at one point to contain them but they were trying to jump over the fence and the wall.

“The horses went into the school from the Woodhouse estate, spent over an hour in there and then made their way back.

“Several cars had to stop because they were on the road, and one narrowly missed a car when it bolted across the road.

“Something needs to be done before somebody is seriously hurt.”