A Belvedere carer claims a dead horse was "left to rot" in an alleyway behind her home after being put down by vets.

Police were called to reports of the brown female animal wandering loose around Mitchell Close at around 11.40pm on Saturday.

The horse then collapsed and a vet put the animal to sleep but rather than removing the body, left it to decompose for more than 40 hours.

Sheralee Williams, 34, told News Shopper: "I am actually disgusted with the council.

"It's not a cat or a dog, it's a big animal and they just left it there to rot.

"Where I live is known for rats and I have got children playing in my garden.

"I feel heartbroken for the horse but I also feel angry at the council for leaving it there - it's ridiculous."

Mrs Williams, who works as a carer for the elderly, says she was afraid to let her daughters Honey, two, and six-year-old Poppy, play in the back garden of their three-bedroom terraced home just yards from the corpse.

The body remained slumped by a tree until it was removed in an area where horses owned by gypsies and travellers can often be seen grazing.

Mrs Williams said: "It fell underneath a tree and it had millions of flies around it.

"The owner could be out there wanting to know where it is."

A Bexley Council spokesman said: “We received a call from the police at 3.29 am on Sunday.

“A highway technician visited the site the same day. The animal was located in a private alleyway behind houses obstructed by household rubbish and the RSPCA were unable to assist the council with removal.

“Owing to the location and access problems, the council had to make arrangements with a specialist contractor with winching equipment.

"This was arranged and carried out on Monday.”

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