THE owner of Elmwood Equestrian Centre has spoken out about the “absolutely devastating” fire that killed 12 horses and a cat, describing it as “pure evil”.

A fire took hold of one of the centre’s barns, growing out of control and killing the animals inside.

Fire crews and passers-by did their best to rescue animals but the majority still perished.

Co-owner Anne Hull, 56, told the Daily Mail: “It was horrendous. It was eerie because it was deadly silent apart from the crackling of the flames. There was no noise from the horses.

“It was absolutely devastating. There were people weeping. One young girl lost her horse – she’d only had him a week.”

Essex Police are treating the fire as suspicious.

CCTV cameras at the site were covered on the evening of the fire, on Sunday, December 3.

Miss Hull said: “I don’t think it was someone larking about because the camera was quite high up and we’d have seen them on the other cameras.”

A fundraising page has raised more than £20,000 to rebuild the centre.

Organiser Alex Longhurst said: “This just goes to show, although there are some heartless people in the world, there are far more people wanting to help Elmwood get back on their feet.”