Police have shared a message after fears that a horse was loose by a road.

Yesterday evening (April 26), Herts Police said they had received “several” calls from members of the public concerned that a horse was loose by Bushey Lane.

However, in posts to the Watford and Bushey Police Facebook pages, the force said: “Please be reassured that the animal is tethered and grazing happily.”

Passers-by have also raised issues with the practice of tethering of horses by the road but, according to the RSPCA, tethering is not illegal in itself.

The animal charity acknowledges that “seeing a tethered horse can be worrying” and says it receives around 5,000 complaints about tethered horses a year.

The RSPCA website adds that it does not recommend tethering as a viable way to keep a horse and, if needed for a horse to have access to grazing, “it should only be for short periods of time”.

It does ask people to report tethered horses that do not appear to have access to food or drink or look to be in a poor condition.