Children are unable to fully enjoy a Bradford park because of hazards caused by loose horses, a councillor has claimed.

Coun Josie Jarosz (Lab, Pudsey) who represents the area on Leeds City Council, says she is “frustrated” by the animals which she say regularly invade Tyersal Park, rendering its football pitch virtually unusable.

She said: “They get out from a nearby field. The owner is saying it is our responsibility to keep the fence up, we are saying why should ratepayers pay to keep her horses in?”

She added: “They are ruining the pitch. This problem has been going on for five or six years.

“I am so frustrated at the moment because the pitch hasn’t been used. It is frustrating we had all this work done and nothing is happening, it has just got unusable.

“You can’t expect children to play on it when it is covered in horse manure.

“They even get into people’s gardens and chew up the flowers. I am so fed up with this problem.”

Coun Jarosz said she believed the animals belonged to Julie Nunney, of nearby Tyersal Home Farm, Tyersal Lane.

However, when contacted by the Telegraph & Argus, Mrs Nunney denied the claim.

She said: “My horses are not in Tyersal Park.”

Councillor Mick Coulson (Lab, Pudsey) said he also believed Julie Nunney was responsible for the animals involved.

He said: “It has been going on for five years. I took it up with the parks management and insisted that enforcement is made against these horse owners who totally disrespect anyone’s land.”

A spokesman for Leeds City Council, which owns the park, said: “As this situation has still not been resolved despite our discussions with the owners of the horses, we have now forwarded this issue to our enforcement team.”

A meeting of the Leeds West (Outer) Area Committee at Tyersal Residents’ Association, Tyersal Road, will discuss the issue on Friday, January 28, at 2pm.