FIVE young stallions escaped from their field and caused chaos on the Peel Fold building site in Oswaldtwistle yesterday.

Residents in Stanhill Road were surprised to see horses in their back alley when they awoke yesterday morning and, after waiting an hour for the police, decided to take action themselves.

They tried to barricade the horses in the alley to prevent them from running in to the busy main road and some people even brought them water to drink. The horses’ handlers finally arrived at the scene and managed to get four of them into a horse box but one spirited young white stallion jumped over a fence and ran off across the road and into the building site.

Jay Carmichael, site manager said: “It caused a bit of a stir.

“You just never know what to expect on a building site — you have to expect the unexpected.

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“But there’s no cowboy builders here — we’re all expert tradesmen! We didn’t know what to do with a roaming horse.”

Darting into the Peel Fold building site, the horse galloped among the excavator and materials and was seen running around a JCB before being cornered by the workers behind one of the new homes.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The handlers wrestled with the horse trying to attach a halter to lead it to the horse box but it ran free again, knocking one man over, before escaping through a gap in the fencing and back into its field.

It took almost three hours to capture and return the horses to their field where they are kept with around 40 others. One of the handlers said: “These five young stallions and aren’t trained yet.

“Someone has cut the fencing and they’ve escaped. They could have been injured.”

Phil Boyer, who lives in Stanhill Road shared the handlers concerns.

He said: “I know the police are busy, but when does an emergency become an emergency?