STRAY horses wandering around a village have left people fearing for their safety.

Villagers in Hunwick, near Bishop Auckland, say horses have been roaming the village and on a children's play area in the past six weeks.

It is believed the horses usually graze on land near Newton Cap Viaduct, where in July a family witnessed an aggressive stallion inflicting fatal wounds on a Shetland pony.

The previous month, a 36-year-old Bishop Auckland man needed hospital treatment after being bitten by an untethered stallion wandering on Bishop Auckland Rugby Club fields, near the viaduct.

One villager, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said: "The horses sometimes wander into the cricket field, which is also a play area for kids. The land near the viaduct where the horses are usually kept borders land where the farm was taken out during the foot-and-mouth crisis, and these horses are getting out and running riot around the village."

People in and around Bishop Auckland have had a long-running problem with stray horses.

Complaints about the animals wandering on roads and play areas have reached such high numbers that Durham County Council has hired a specialist service to impound stray horses on its land. Owners must pay £1,000 to have them released.

A spokesman for the county council said if the horses were straying on council land it would investigate the problem.