THE number of road incidents involving horses in Gloucestershire has increased by over 40 per cent in the last year.

Nationally, as reported by the British Horse Society (BHS), there has been a 29 per cent rise – prompting it to launch its Dead Slow campaign aimed at educating drivers on how safely pass a horse on the road.

Partnering with the Department of Transport, the charity has produced a video promoting its campaign.

Figures for 2015-16 show that there were seven incidents reported to the charity which increased to 10 in 2016-17.

Alan Hiscox, director of safety at the BHS: “We strongly believe that this increase is due to more people being aware of our horse accidents website.

“However, it’s unacceptable that horses and riders are still dying on our roads.

“When we launched Dead Slow, a number of riders reported to us that they’d noticed drivers being more considerate, but we still have a long way to go.

“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure safety for all road users, including horses and rider”.

In November a horse was killed in Hawkesbury Upton following a collision with a car.