NO ONE has been prosecuted by council chiefs over the past decade for allowing horses to stray on to York roads.

However, City of York Council said seven horses were seized from the roadside by the authority in 2010 on animal welfare grounds, with two people prosecuted and cautioned.

The information was obtained by Independent Osbaldwick councillor Mark Warters following a number of incidents earlier this year in which horses tethered on verges broke free and ran into the highway.

Two animals died when they were hit by vehicles and, in one of the accidents – on the A166 between York and Stamford Bridge – a couple were injured and their van was written off, with police saying they would have been killed had they been driving an ordinary car.

Coun Warters said he welcomed the news that action had been taken over tethered horses’ welfare, some of which were in a ‘pitiful’ state.

“However, I would question why York has not prosecuted anyone over the past ten years in relation to horses straying on to the roads, because public safety should be paramount,” he said.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy called last month for the council to confiscate all horses tethered dangerously on verges after Transport Minister Norman Baker confirmed to him that local authorities had the necessary powers.

A council spokeswoman said yesterday that when horses had been seized by the authority, they had either been returned to their owners if traced, or otherwise had been sold.

However, she the council no longer seized animals, working in conjunction with the RSPCA in such matters.

Steve Waddington, assistant director of housing and public protection, has said previously the council was looking into what appropriate course of action it can take, both in the short term and long term, to develop a solution to the problem of horses on roadsides. When we become aware of horses tethered at the roadside, we contact the owners if we are able to do so, to get them to move the horse(s) on,” he said.