Cheadle equestrian calls for ban on garden fireworks

Jennifer Walker was expecting more foals at her centre but said some of her horses miscarried

The owner of an equestrian centre is calling for a ban on fireworks being set off in gardens after linking loud bangs to miscarriages in her horses.

Jennifer Walker said a number of her horses miscarried last year after being frightened while outdoors at the site in Staffordshire.

She said she decided to have them spend more time in the stables this November to help keep them calm.

But despite the move, another mare miscarried, she explained.

Ms Walker, of Cheadle Equestrian Centre, said she believed there should be a change in the law over the use of fireworks, advising people during an interview with BBC Radio Stoke: "If you want to go and see fireworks, go to a paid or charity display where it's set up for that."

Currently the law prohibits the sale of fireworks to under 18s and their use in the street and public places, but private use is permitted under certain conditions.

People should not set off fireworks between the hours of 23:00 and 07:00, although the cut-off is extended by one hour to midnight on 5 November, also known as Bonfire Night, and to 01:00 for New Year's Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year.

Otherwise, garden use is permitted.

'Just petrified'

Ms Walker said of her horses: "They just feel like they've been dropped into a war zone, they are just petrified. Horses are animals that, in their nature want to flee.

"They will do anything possible to get out of the way of something that's frightening them."

She said she had heard instances of startled horses jumping over hedges into main roads, running through barbed wire, and dying of heart attacks caused by fright.