A horse has drowned and three others had to be rescued after wandering into a field flooded when an under-water pipe burst in Bushey last night.

Fire crews were called to the land off Merry Hill Road at around 8.45am after a member of the public came across the distressed animals.

Watch commander Dave Elliott, from Watford station, said one of the horses was close to slipping under and a walker had to hold its head up while firefighters made their way to the field.

He said: “They were in a very bad state. If the member of the public had not been there they would have drowned.

“They were very, very distressed and very weak. They had been in there, we believe, over night.”

Firefighters managed to pull the three surviving horse out of the muddy pool by fixing a harness around their necks and guiding them to solid ground.

Mr Elliott said a vet had been called to the scene and the ownership of the horses was yet to be established.