CALLS were made last night for more to be done about the problem of loose horses as up to 15 animals led police on a two-mile ‘trot’ during rush-hour - including on part of the city’s ring road.

The herd was first seen in Rooley Lane, Bierley - near the Asda supermarket - and eventually stopped outside the Drop Kick pub in Huddersfield Road, Low Moor, yesterday morning.

The drama, which also saw the animals pass by the entrance and exit routes to the M606 motorway at Staygate roundabout, occurred between 9am and 10am.

One motorist, who spotted the horses at about 9.20am on Rooley Lane, captured the incident on camera, and said: “There were about ten or 12 of them on the dual carriageway by Asda.

“It looked like they’d been running up and down for a while as there was horse mess all over the road.”

Councillors in the area warned of the dangers posed by loose horses on the roads and called for more steps to be taken to deal with the problem.

Councillor David Green (Lab, Wibsey) said: “This incident is massively dangerous to the travelling public, as well as possibly to pedestrians.

“Going over some of those major roads, it must have been frightening for drivers.

“Many of them would have been coming off the motorway and the last thing they would have expected to see would have been loose horses.

“It could have been a disaster.”

He added: “The important thing is to identify the owner, but then to find where the horses have been kept in the past. And to make sure they are properly secure and kept in a safe place in the future.

“We have had problems with loose horses on Manchester Road in the past and in several other places.

“I think what it shows is the importance of the horse owners properly corralling their horses and making sure they are secure or that they are tethering them securely.”

Cllr David Warburton (Lab, Wyke) said: “At nine in the morning it is extremely dangerous, not only for the horse, but for the public as well.

“The fortunate thing is schools are on holiday, so traffic will have been lighter than normal.”

He added: “One of the problems is some people break gates open or leave gates open on purpose, or break fences.

“We have had that problem in the past, where someone has broken all the fencing down and the horses went to look for food.

“It is a very difficult situation. We are not as bad as we were with the Holme Wood situation, but we do need to sit down and get on top of it.

“We will start working with councillors in Wibsey, police and neighbourhood teams. We need to have a look at it.”

Cllr Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said: “Whoever owns them should keep them under control.

“It is down to the owners to keep them under control.”

Cllr Wainwright said there used to be a big problem with loose horses in his ward, but that things had improved dramatically in the last few years.

“Last week three horses were impounded in Holme Wood but we just don’t see them anymore,” he said.

“They must be in people’s houses, they are probably storing them in the kitchen.

“We always do a count of horses in our ward now. There is maybe half a dozen now, down from 117.

“I am convinced the problem has moved from our area. I have been told it can be bad in Low Moor, Royds and Wyke.”

He added: “As far as I’m concerned, Bradford Council is doing a great job, along with police, in stopping this anti-social behaviour with horses - as that is what it is when they are being tied up in children’s playgrounds and places like that.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said up to 15 loose horses were reported in Rooley Lane at about 9.05am.

They were all brought under control at about 9.55am close to the Drop Kick pub by their owner, who was then spoken to by police officers.

The police spokesman said the incident caused some traffic disruption but no roads had to be closed in the operation to round them up.