A Skipton woman has expressed her disgust after her six-month old foal sustained burns to its face from what appeared to be a cigarette.

Leigh Winterburn, 21, who has kept horses for more than 10 years, told the Herald how she had discovered burns on the foal's face.

She said: "There's two burn marks next to each other and who ever did it really pressed onto her face. They've not just left a mark, they have left quite bad burns.

"She's only six months old and now she's really difficult to handle. We had built her confidence up, but now with this, she's taken a real turn for the worse. It really makes me mad."

Miss Winterburn added: "I think it happened some time last week as I noticed a change in her attitude. She just didn't want to come in when we called her and she's usually really good like that."

The horse is stabled up at Bolton Abbey and runs free in a field by the Devonshire Arms, which has a public footpath running along the side.

Miss Winterburn said: "We see a lot of people touching the horses and stroking them."

She added though that she would have to take more care in the future.

"I want to just warn other people who have horses what has happened and appeal for anyone who might have seen anything to come forward," said Miss Winterburn.

Anyone who has any information about the incident should contact Skipton Police on 01756 793377.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.