POLICE have prosecuted a woman for allowing her horses to roam on the road at May Hill.

Julie Huggins was fined £350 and ordered to pay £165 costs after pleading guilty at Gloucester Magistrates' Court.

PC Brian Howard who brought the prosecution said it was a victory for residents who fear free roaming horses will cause a major accident at the Forest of Dean beauty spot.

"This is something that has plagued the local community for years," he said.

"When you get horses in the road after dark, it's a real hazard."

PC Howard says he gets regular calls from motorists complaining that horses, which are allowed to graze the National Trust common land, have strayed into the road.

But he says the problem has got worse over the last 18 months to two years.

"There have been near misses with horses on the highways around May Hill and Cliffford's Mesne," he said.

"It can be very frightening for people to see up to half a dozen horses in the road at a time. We are also getting reports of them getting into people's gardens and trashing them."

Mr Howard told magistrates he had been called out to a complaint of horses in the road last April and recognised the animals as belonging to the Huggins family.

He said he had been told that the number of horses had grown to about 50 because members of Ms Huggin' s extended traveller family kept leaving them on the common for her to look after.

Mr Howard told the court that there had been at least 13 complaints of horses on the highway since the incident in April.

But the incidents could not be taken into consideration because he could not prove who the horses belonged to.

Ms Huggins originally pleaded not guilty to the charges but changed her plea by fax shortly before the court case this week. She did not appear in person.

PC Howard said after the case: "I am please the court took this matter seriously because it could have easily ended up in a serious injury accident.

"We are doing our best, but it is up to the owners of the horses to accept responsibility to have them properly corralled."