A dozen naughty nags escape in Crowhurst

The naughty nags left their field in Swainham Lane at 8.20am after a gate was accidentally left open.

The animals trotted down to Crowhurst village and held up traffic as Rachel North, owner of Hyfield Stables, other stable staff, neighbours and a passer-by tried to round them up.

Rachel said: "We caught the horses up and brought them back to Swainham Lane, but some of them wanted to head up towards Hastings."

As the horses enjoyed munching the grass on the side of the road, the police were called to help round up the remaining few.

The horses were calm and none of the animals were hurt.

Rachel said: "I want to say thank you to the passer-by who came to help us lead the horses back and thanks to the neighbours and the tolerance of the drivers."