A MAN has been treated in hospital after being attacked in the street by an untethered horse.

Gary Teasdale, 36, of Bell Street, Bishop Auckland, was left black and blue and needing stitches when the horse bit him.

He had been making his way home on Thursday evening, past the town's rugby club, when he noticed the animal.

Mr Teasdale said: "As I walked down the road, the horse came towards me and I thought it would go straight past, but it lurched forward and bit me. Then it kicked out and caught my leg. It really hurt.

"If I had provoked it, then fair enough, but I was walking home and it came on to the road itself.

"It bit me in the chest, but if it had been a little kid it might have done a lot more damage."

There have been problems before with horses grazing in Bishop Auckland. The town's rugby club considered cancelling its annual sevens tournament earlier this year due to fears that players and spectators could be at risk.

Last month, a young stallion died when it choked on a chain, yards from the Bishop Auckland bypass and a six-year-old girl had been dragged around a council playing field by a horse.

RSPCA officer Gavin Butterfield said the horses were potentially dangerous animals and could kill someone with a kick, but it was unusual to find such an aggressive animal.

Durham County Council has just employed a specialist service to pick up and impound stray horses from its land. Owners will have to pay £1,000 for horses to be released. A similar system is being set up by Wear Valley District Council.