A TEAM of police officers in Hampshire is battling to break a horse scam which has caused heartbreak for horse and pony owners all over England.

The officers, based at Alton Police Station, are trying to end the activities of a gang of thieves who use advertisements in leading equestrian magazines to tempt unsuspecting owners.

They claim to be responsible horse owners who are looking for ageing or lame ponies to act as companions for animals they claim they already have.

With horses and ponies liable to become lonely and depressed if they are left on their own, animals are handed over in the belief that they are going to good homes.

But it has emerged that they are being sold to abattoirs, and the police initiative, which has been given the name Operation Gorran, has been set up to trace the culprits.

The team, led by Detective Inspector Dave Collings and comprising Dc Heather Hastings and Pcs Helen Roberts and Sandra Kent, is working closely with the equestrian magazines.

DI Collings said: "The thieves know that many people are attached to their horses and want to know that they will be kept in good condition. So the criminals arrange to meet their victims and show them the fields where the horses will live."

But he added that when people went to visit their pets and discovered they had gone, they were told by the person who had taken the animal that he didn't know what they were talking about.

The British Horse Society has warned people they should make thorough inquiries and satisfy themselves that a horse was going to a good home before they parted with it.