FURIOUS Charlotte Webb has condemned vandals for putting the lives of her two horses at risk.

Last Saturday someone attacked fencing at the field where the Offenham owner keeps Melissa, a two-year-old Shire and a five-year-old Welsh Cob called Flaxon sometime last Saturday night.

The animals then got into the field next door and gorged themselves on a haystack there, ending up seriously bloated.

"It could have been fatal," said Miss Webb who discovered the poorly beasts when she checked on them at about 11am last Sunday.

She said the first thing she noticed was the damaged fencing scattered around the field.

"I thought Flaxon had done it at first as he's very big," said Miss Webb.

"But I saw that fence poles had been pulled up out of the ground and then I looked at Flaxon, he was very bloated."

In fact, his stomach was about twice its normal size, solid and he was struggling to cope with the amount of hay he had eaten.

Melissa, who Miss Webb got from the horse rescue centre at Middle Littleton just two months ago, is making a quick recovery but Flaxon, who needed to be put on a diet of just salt water for several days, is taking a little longer.

Miss Webb said the incident could have been far more serious and she appealed to whoever was responsible to think about what they were doing to innocent animals.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Evesham Police on 01905 723888 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.