Firefighters attend overturned horsebox on M27 near Cadnam

Redbridge and Eastleigh firefighters, along with HIWFRS specialist animal rescue vehicles from Winchester and Lyndhurst, were called at 10:13 to a road traffic collision involving one car and a horsebox on its side, on the M27 eastbound between junctions 1 and 2.

One horse had escaped the horsebox, with another trapped inside. A local vet was on the scene and sedated both horses.

HIWFRS crews, working with our Animal Rescue Advisor, Hampshire Police and the vet, released the trapped horse. The vet then assessed the conditions of both animals before they could be loaded into horseboxes.

The horse that had been trapped did not recover and has sadly died.

Station Manager Tim Harrison said: ‘The risk posed to motorists by horses on a motorway is significant and this, along with a complex animal rescue, led to this being a challenging incident to deal with.

‘We were able to use a manitou forklift to get the horse in the trailer back on its feet, but it sadly never recovered.’

South Central Ambulance Service paramedics assessed the driver of the vehicle and the clearing and reopening of the motorway was handed over to police and highways officers.

Stop message: 15:24.