Bizarre footage has emerged showing police walking horses down a busy high street after the animals ran amok in north London early Saturday morning.
Officers had to use water rescue ropes to bring three horses under control after they were found “hoofing around in a high street on an unlikely night out” on St Albans Road, Barnet, around 1am.
Police said PC Emma Hooper was able to use “skills she had learned in the stables”, to control the animals who witnesses said had been “running into the road, and onto private premises and driveways as they were unfamiliar with their surroundings”.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Using the experience she has working with horses outside of the job, PC Hooper enlisted the help of her colleagues to gently coax the animals back to Barnet Police Station with water rescue ropes.
“Utilising the rescue lines and patrol cars creating a rolling road block to stop traffic from startling the animals, the horses were safely led to the back yard of the police station in the High Street.”
The horses were taken to stables for safe keeping and returned to their nearby home after officers tracked the owners down, the Met said, adding “it’s not known how the threesome made their great escape”.
Inspector Jamie Kay of Barnet police said: “Luckily one of my officers was an equestrian expert who was able to gently coax the horses into makeshift harnesses using our water rescue ropes that we carry.
“Leading horses down a busy high street was certainly an unusual spectacle and goes to show the variety of incidents we deal with.
“I would like to remind owners of horses to ensure they are secure in fields or stables to prevent accidents on the roads.”