Tracy Cooper’s New Forest Drive: Horse put down and Balmer Lawn riverbank at Brockenhurst ‘sabotaged’

A horse had to be put down and a beauty spot was ‘sabotaged’ with nails and broken glass as an annual traveller drive hit the New Forest at the weekend.

The river and bank at Balmer Lawn in Brockenhurst was closed by Forestry England to enable those taking part in the Tracy Cooper Drive to cool their horses.

But when police turned up to “facilitate” them at the spot on Sunday it was discovered that it had been vandalised with nails strewn all over the grass and broken glass scattered over the bank and thrown in the river. Three trees had also had gallons of diesel thrown over them.

It took a team of police, Forestry England workers and volunteers including staff from the Balmer Lawn Hotel over four hours to clean the site up. The area is hugely popular as a picnicking spot with children swimming in the river during the summer.

Animal campaigner Gilly Jones, who helped remove the dangerous items, blasted those responsible: “To the person or people who did this, did you think of the ramifications of what you did. New Forest livestock were there, and we hope that none of them are injured by the nails and broken glass you dropped.

“Families with small children enjoy 'Brock Beach' but now we do not know when it will be safe to use again. You might not have liked the idea of the event taking place, but you have put so many more animals in direct danger.”

Ms Jones said that despite the team’s efforts there was still glass in the river. The site remained closed with police tape on Sunday with Forestry England scheduled to inspect the site today (Monday).

She said: “The people taking part in the drive were shocked that someone would put children and livestock in danger.”

The incident at Balmer Lawn came after a pony was put down on Saturday after reportedly suffering a broken leg in an incident at Woodlands Road, Ashurst.

Police helped move the horse from the cattle grid and it was eventually euthanised by a local vet.

There was outrage over the incident online with many venting their fury at the travellers amid claims three other horses had died during the drive.

A woman who said she saw the accident told the A&T: “I saw a horse and chariot driven across a cattle grid by a traveller who obviously doesn't know the roads, resulting in the horse's leg snapping in two places. I had to drive past the poor thing lying down, seeing its bone protruding.

“It was sickening. The horse had to wait five hours to be euthanised at the roadside.”

The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had also witnessed incidents of animal cruelty during the drive: “Some have children under 10 riding them without an adult in the chariot, horses are whipped by men and children to go faster, often with sticks rather than horse whips, horses are lame and pulling chariots, many chariots have small horses pulling four burly adults, many have ill-fitting tack and despite the heat. They were being ridden and raced to exhaustion with no water buckets or hay to be seen.”

Travellers from all over the UK come to the New Forest to take part in the drive, which was previously known as the Danny Cooper Drive.

The A&T has contacted Tracy Cooper for comment.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: “We are aware of this event which takes place annually in the New Forest and police have engaged with the organiser.

“This has included further discussions with the organiser around any safety issues of the animals involved in the event.

“Police took control of a horse yesterday afternoon which had suffered a broken leg in Ashurst. Sadly, the horse was put down by a local vet.

“We understand community concern around animal welfare issues and encourage anyone with information about criminality, whether related to animal welfare or any other criminal activity perpetrated by anyone, to report this to police in the first instance.

“Officers will gather evidence of any serious criminal offences reported to police and will take robust action. We ask people not to speculate on social media and to instead provide any supporting evidence to the police to assist with our investigation processes by calling 101 or using the report tool at www.hampshire.police.uk.”

A Forestry England spokesperson said: “We were notified by the police of an incident they were attending at our car park at Balmer Lawn in Brockenhurst.

“The car park has been strewn with metal tacks and screws, diesel poured on a number of trees, and broken glass bottles placed in and around the water’s edge. The police had cordoned off the area. Several nearby gates allowing access across cattle grids had also been screwed shut.

“A group of eight Forestry England staff joined the police to carry out a clean-up operation. An area was made safe and was later in the day used by the drive. Our team are still carrying out checks at the area and will reopen it once these are complete.”