One horse was killed and another injured in a multi-vehicle incident on a dual carriageway in North Tyneside this morning (17 February).
Police were called at just before 6.45am to reports of two horses running loose on the westbound carriageway of the Coast Road near the Battle Hill slip road.
“It was reported that both horses had come in collision with vehicles, with one driver becoming trapped in a vehicle with reported minor injuries,” a spokesman for Northumbria Police said.
“Emergency services attended the scene but one horse had already sadly died of injuries sustained during the collision. The second horse is receiving veterinary treatment.”
The road was closed to allow the horses and vehicles involved to be moved from the scene.
Equine deaths on the roads
The British Horse Society (BHS) last month released its 2022 incident statistics, which confirmed that 68 horses died on Britain’s roads last year and 125 were injured. Two horses had already died in January this year.
The figures, described as “shocking” by BHS director of safety Alan Hiscox, show that almost 10 incidents were reported for every day last year – a total of 3,552. This is a 21% overall increase from 2021, when 66 horses were killed. The number of horses injured has decreased slightly, from 129, but the number of riders injured has gone up from 126 to 139.
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