Horses are running amok at Wickford's Runwell Hospital - with staff concerned for the animals' well-being.

Neither the police nor local inspectors from the RSPCA have any power to act because the horses are tethered on land belonging to the psychiatric hospital.

Police and councillors have already got together to discuss the issue of tied horses, which Sgt Paul Smith of Wickford Police said is a townwide problem.

One distraught member of staff, who asked not to be named, said: "There are about seven or eight of them. They're just tethered to the walls by chains, and nobody is doing anything about them.

"There are baby ones as well - it's just so cruel."

She said the animals were often left in the rain. Some had even been set free by concerned security men at the hospital because they were not able to move around freely and are roaming the grounds.

A hospital spokeswoman said: "The horses pose no threat to the patients and there are no plans at this stage to remove them from the site."

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "They are being monitored - inspectors go down there regularly and look at them to make sure there are not any problems.

"Nobody is breaking the law - but we would advise the owners to move them regularly, make sure their tethers are long enough and that they have access to fresh water."

She added that if there was evidence the horses were suffering, the RSPCA would prosecute.

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