A HORSE found with hugely overgrown hooves in a stable 5ft deep with manure has been rehomed.

Bay stallion Mungo was discovered by RSPCA inspector Justin Le Masurier in a stable at Greenbury Farm, South Cowton, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire in June last year.

The roof was partially collapsed and dung came up above the door. It was estimated that he had not been out of the stable for five years.

His hooves had grown to a length of about 20 inches and were curled like ram's horns. Two mares found nearby were in such a bad condition that they had to be put down.

The case was used by the RSPCA to highlight the increase in the number of animals failing to receive even the most basic care when the charity announced the latest cruelty figures in July.

Mungo's owners, Ernest Horsfield and his daughter Deborah, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the horses at Northallerton Magistrates' Court, in December.

They were banned for life from keeping animals. Ernest Horsfield was jailed for three months, while Deborah Horsfield was sentenced to a 200-hour community punishment order and ordered to pay £800 costs.

Mungo underwent a year of treatment at the RSPCA's Felledge Equine Centre, near Chester-le-Street, and has now been found a new home with Lianne McCafferty, of Temple Thornton Farm, Meldon, Northumberland.

Inspector Le Masurier said: "I'm incredibly pleased that Mungo has found a new home. After spending five years locked up in that filthy stable, he deserves to spend the rest of his life running free, being treated with love."

The inspector has been awarded the Special Service Medal by the RSPCA for his handling of the case.

The charity's director general, Jackie Ballard, presented the accolade at the RSPCA North Region's annual conference this week.

Dave Millard, regional superintendent for the RSPCA in the north, said: "Justin's investigation of this case was nothing short of exemplary. He conducted himself with professionalism at all times and, as a result of his painstaking work, the RSPCA achieved a successful prosecution."