WILD horses brought terror to a North-East road early yesterday when at least one motorist narrowly escaped injury.

A red BMW was written off when it collided with a stray horse on the Toronto bypass, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Both the car driver and horse were unharmed.

During the night, police rounded up 16 stray horses.

One man, who rang the police just before 5am, said later: "It was like a scene from the wild west. They were everywhere. It is getting worse. I don't know how somebody was not killed."

The caller did not wish to be identified because, like a lot of concerned members of the public, he is afraid of reprisals from the horses' owners.

Local people estimate that more than 100 animals are grazing free in the area.

Three weeks ago, The Northern Echo photographed seven horses wandering untethered beside the same road.

In most incidents involving loose animals the owner is never traced.

One of the worst involved a young horse beaten as it lay dying after an accident at Tindale Crescent, Bishop Auckland, in April 1997.

The RSPCA is still investigating an incident near Bishop Auckland on May 10, when a stallion is believed to have choked on its tether chain.

At about the same time, police on a night shift had to deal with horses charging from one side of Bishop Auckland to the other through the main shopping centre and a supermarket car park.

Around County Durham last year police were called out 1,070 times by people complaining about roaming horses.

Inspector George Osborne, of Bishop Auckland police, said yesterday: "We are as frustrated as anyone else. We were called ten times yesterday about loose horses and it takes up a lot of our officers' time."

Police can only act if the animals are causing a danger on the highway, and the RSPCA animal charity will only intervene if the horses are suffering.

But Wear Valley District Council is close to signing a contract with a horse catching service which would be authorised to remove stray animals from council land.

A security service recently employed by Durham County Council will remove horses from grass verges.

Inspector Osborne said: "Once these are in place, it is up to the owners to make sure that their animals are secure or they will be taken away."

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