National search for six stolen Shetland ponies

The ponies went missing from the Cadnam and Bramshaw areas of the New Forest

A UK-wide search has been launched after six Shetland ponies went missing from a national park.

The free-roaming animals disappeared from land around Bramshaw and Cadnam in the New Forest, Hampshire, earlier this month.

Anna Merritt, a neighbour of the owner, who mounted a social media campaign to find the herd, said they were "hugely missed".

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the ponies were believed to have been stolen from an address on Cadnam Lane between 20 and 22 July.

The New Forest's National Park's free-roaming ponies, pigs, donkeys and cattle are owned by commoners

The diminutive ponies are all aged between two and three years and have the letters TP branded on their backs

Ms Merritt said she had received a "huge amount of information" from horse-owners around the country following her appeals on social media.

"The locals really do look out for the ponies when they are out walking or riding their ponies," she said.

"People love coming to see them, they'll be hugely missed, especially as its such a large number of them were stolen."

She said it was suspected they were being held in a field somewhere outside the area, before being moved on.

Anna Merritt started a social media campaign on behalf of the ponies' owner

The New Forest's National Park's free-roaming ponies, pigs, donkeys and cattle are owned by commoners - people who own or occupy land with ancient rights attached.

The family that owns the stolen Shetlands are thought to have been turning ponies out on to the forest for more than 100 years.

David Collings of Hampshire Horse Watch, which liaises between the local equine community and police, said the theft was "very disturbing" but admitted it had "no ideas" where the ponies might be.

"We're talking with other Horsewatch organisations around the county," he said.

"Horse theft is very rare, where it does happen it does have a great impact on the owners and other members of the community."