LOOSE horses wandered into a housing estate this morning where they have been grazing on people's lawns.

Residents of St Helen Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, woke to see the animals trampling over their gardens and walking around their vehicles.

One resident said he saw them on a nearby park last night and noticed them outside his house just after 7am when he heard their hooves on the path at the front of his house.

"It isn't an uncommon sight round here.

"There must have been about 20 of them, there was a real mix of shapes and sizes but they headed towards the main road after being chased out by someone in a car," he added.

The issue is not a new one in the town, with police inundated with calls about loose horses on property and roads at various times in recent years.

In 2017 officers were called to 850 reports of loose horses and motorists hitting or having to avoid them on roads. Horse passports and micro-chipping aim to make it easier to trace owners.

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