A council working group to look in greater detail on the issue of “escalating” numbers of fly-grazing horses across Pembrokeshire is to be established.

The county has witnessed a significant increase in incidents of horses being left on public land and highways – known as fly-grazing - in recent years.

The matter was raised at the March meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as an update on the issue being raised at a previous committee, with a recommendation to establish a working group.

A report to members, presented by Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett said: “The cost of dealing with unlawfully grazed horses can be substantial, often running into many thousands of pounds. The Control of Horses (Wales) Act 2014 is the legal framework for enforcement across Wales. The primary policy objective in relation to this Act is to work towards establishing a fly grazing free Wales.

“The Act provides all local authorities in Wales with legal powers to seize, impound, sell, re-home, return, dispose of and destroy horses by humane means after certain notifications and time limits, when the horses are found causing nuisance by fly grazing, straying or have been abandoned in a local authority area.”

Cllr Sinnett said the issue was county-wide, but there was a particular issue in the south of the county.

The report said that action would only be taken to remove fly-grazing if there was a risk to people or property, or if the horse had strayed on the highway.

It added: “As members are aware, in recent months issues associated with fly-grazing in the county have escalated. This has placed pressure on multiple services within Pembrokeshire County Council and Dyfed Powys Police from a public safety perspective, especially in regards to reports of horses straying onto the highway.

“As a result of this escalating situation involving services across the Authority and public sector partners, multi-agency meetings surrounding this complex situation have been undertaken. In addition to an interim multiagency response solution which has been implemented since December 2024.

“Due to the range of issues which need further consideration, the suggestion is to convene a working group with members to explore this in more detail.

“In addition to this, Pembrokeshire County Council is also receiving requests from private landowners to enact the powers within the Control of Horses (Wales) Act on their behalf, which is an area of work not covered under the existing policy. This is an area of review which can also be given consideration by the working group.”

Members agreed to establish a working group to review the policy agreed in 2015 and identify any suggested amendments.

The issue of fly-grazing in his locality was recently raised by Pembroke Monkton county councillor Cllr Jonathan Grimes after being “inundated with complaints”.

He said: “It’s extremely frustrating; the police are frustrated, they need the council to do something before they can enforce it.“

Cllr Grimes also said that he’d received threats after raising the issue, which have been reported to police.