The number of stray horses roaming around Walsall has dropped by 90 per cent in the last six months.

There were about 80 of the animals wandering around residential streets and green space in the borough last year.

But there are now just a handful after a crackdown which saw owners paying £2,000 to get back confiscated horses.

The news comes as Councillor Ian Robertson, whose ward of Blakenall was particularly affected, called for the decades-old issue to be stamped out by designating a patch of land horse-owners could rent from the council.

Councillor Robertson said: “Most people who have horses must pay £300 or £400 to rent stables so it seems a bit unfair that some just let them roam around.

“We have confiscated horses and it would cost the owners £2,000 to get them back. We are showing that we are serious about this.”

Graham Hood, head of green spaces at Walsall Council, said: “The actions being taken in tackling the issue of illegal horse grazing has been extremely effective and over the past six months horse numbers on council-owned land has dropped by over 90 per cent.

“Our actions will continue and the council has no plans to find land in order to establish designated grazing areas.”