The horses, worth a total of £11,000, were stolen from Dream Day Carriages, in Usworth Road, Hartlepool.

It has left owner Tony Simpson fuming as the theft comes weeks before he was looking to launch horse-drawn carriage tours around town.
Police have launched an investigation. But the theft of the two horses, one of which is in foal, remains a mystery.

Dream Day Carriages has submitted applications to council chiefs to provide tours along three routes – around the marina, from the marina to the Headland Gate and from Church Street to the marina – during holidays and major public events, with prices expected to be around £5.

Mr Simpson, 45, said: "I am angry because we have invested a lot of money into this business and right at the last minute our plans have been affected through no fault of our own.

"We had seven horses in place to use for the horse-drawn carriage tours and now we are down to five."

The older horse, which is 10 years old, is in foal and worth about £7,000. It is described as big and muscly and white-coloured with black patches.
The second horse, which is three, is worth £4,000 and is described as black with two rear white socks.

Mr Simpson, who lives in the Belle Vue area of town, added: "It will cost us between £5,000 to £10,000 to find replacement horses capable of doing that kind of work.

"That is a significant amount of money for a small business like us and I am very angry.

"This could really set the business back as we will have to replace those horses, train new ones and also get them tested by the relevant bodies.

"It is devastating really."

The company has seven carriages – some dating back to 1820 – which can carry between two and six people.

Mr Simpson applied to Hartlepool Borough Council for a change in the licence policy to allow horse-drawn tours earlier this year.

Civic chiefs approved the change as they thought it would give a major boost to tourism, but a number of conditions were put in place to ensure the animals' health and safety.

A council spokesman confirmed that applications for a licence for the venture have been received and that they were currently being processed.

The two horses were stolen between 10pm on Saturday, June 27, and the morning of Sunday, June 28.

Special Constable Christopher Phelan said: "Horses can't just vanish, somebody somewhere must know the whereabouts of these animals.