New figures show that Bradford has one of the worst records in the country for problems involving tethered horses.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had more than 1,500 calls in Yorkshire and the North East about tethered horses in 2001, more than twice the number from the country's next worst area.

In March this year more than 40 calls were received from Bradford residents worried that horses were in danger.

Heather Holmes, speaking for the RSPCA, said its officers had no legal powers to intervene unless the horse concerned is seriously injured.

"We have been out to reports where horses have terrible injuries from tethering. They have fallen down steep banks and asphyxiated or slipped their tether and ran out on to the road," she said.

In February 2001 a one-year old foal was found dead on playing fields in Holme Wood after it was strangled by its tether.

RSPCA inspectors said that the foal's rope had become coiled round the tree to which it was tied and that the horse would have suffered a slow and painful death.

Bradford Council has employed private contractors PPS to deal with stray horses.Within two months of the firm being brought in last October, 175 horses had been moved from Council-owned land by their owners.

"The Council employs PPS where necessary to deal with horses on Council land where there are no grazing rights," a Council spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the RSPCA is urging horse owners not to tether their animals.

"The RSPCA doesn't believe that tethering is a suitable long term way to look after horses," a spokesman said.

"We think you should only tether for very short periods, or if the horse is on a restricted diet. We don't agree with long-term tethering because the horse is exposed to extremes of weather and predators which they cannot escape from."

Residents concerned about stray horses can inform the Council by calling Hear to Help on (01274) 751002.