POLICE in Malmesbury are asking horse owners to braid an identification tag into their horse's manes, to help officers return escaped or lost animals.

The town's force used its Facebook page to launch the scheme, urging owners to braid in an identification tag containing a name and phone number so that officers could reunite horses quickly.

The statement said: “Usually when loose horses are found they are spooked and difficult to catch at the best of times. Police officers do not routinely carry head collars or microchip scanners and have the skills to handle 500-1,000kg animals that are frightened."

The force said providing microchip scanners to every vehicle would be costly and having one per station would be ineffective.

“Rather than spend time trying to find a microchip that may or may not be there it would be much easier for an officer, not trained in horsemanship, to simply read a telephone number out to a colleague who is present or on the radio channel,” a second statement read.

“We fully encourage that horses are microchipped. However, the suggestion of a visible tag, with a direct telephone number to the owner would be a much more simple solution for police officers dealing with loose horses on the roadside.”

Compulsory microchips were introduced for horses with new equine passports on July 1, 2009. Horses given passports before this date are not required by law to be microchipped.

Some owners have also raised concerns about their phone numbers being displayed on their horses or being lost in fields.

PCSO Michaela Lareine, who also owns two horses, said: “It is just a telephone number and this has been done for years on dog collars.”

In the last 12 months, approximately 175 calls were made to Wiltshire Police regarding loose horses.