Police were called to a 'disturbance' involving around 20 to 30 horses and carts on Sunday afternoon after reports they were blocking the highway.

Officers attended the incident in the Simpson Street area of Hapton at around 2.15pm.

One eye witness said: "Today in the village there were a hell of a lot of horses and carts, blocking roads, being absolute idiots.

"They nearly caused an accident on the top road near the Hapton Inn when a horse got out of control and almost went head on into a car."

A spokesperson for the police said they were contacted around 1pm, and had also received reports of a number of people congregating at the Griffin Head pub in Huncoat.

The spokesperson said: "We were called to a highways disruption close to Simpson Street in Hapton.

"We had been made aware there were 20 or 30 horses and carts in the area but by the time we attended they had moved on."

The incident comes just 24 hours after a group of demonstrators took to the streets of Accrington to protest the innocence of Rocky Price, the 17-year-old convicted earlier this month of murdering mother-of-two Lindsay Birbeck.

However, police have confirmed that the two incidents were unrelated.

The spokesperson added: "There was no mention of these groups of people protesting or demonstrating.

"It appeared to be a general meeting, there was no mention of Rocky Price."