A NEW law could soon be in place to give landowners and farmers more powers to remove horses left illegally on their land.

The Control of Horses Bill is aimed at cracking down on the problem of "fly grazing" – horse abandonment – and is promoted by York Outer MP Julian Sturdy, and backed by a host of rural, farming and animal welfare bodies.

MPs are due to participate in the Committee stage debate tomorrow (Jan 8th) and the Bill is expected to become law before the end of this Parliamentary session.

A number of amendments have been made which, if successful, will extend powers already proposed for councils to remove fly-grazed horses from public land to private landowners to tackle fly-grazing horses on their private land.

Dorothy Fairburn, North regional director for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: "Horses can suffer significant harm if they are left to fend for themselves so it is vital that farmers and landowners have the power to act quickly and in the best interest of the welfare of these animals.

“We are delighted the Government supports our call for the powers in the Bill to be extended to private landowners and not just limited to local authorities.

“It is also vital that MPs support the proposal to cut the time landowners must wait before they can act from 14 days to four and to give them greater options in how they can remove the animals quickly."