Four people taken to hospital after military horses bolt through central London

Military horses have bolted through central London, leaving four people needing hospital treatment.

A number of people, including Army personnel, were injured when “total mayhem” erupted on Wednesday as several of the animals got loose.

The London Ambulance Service said it had treated four people across three separate incidents in Buckingham Palace Road, Belgrave Square and the junction of Chancery Lane and Fleet Street, after the horses ran amok.

A serviceman was thrown from his horse in Buckingham Palace Road and one of the loose animals smashed into a taxi waiting outside the Clermont Hotel, shattering the windows.

LBC spoke to the driver, Faraz, who said a white horse had collided with his Mercedes people carrier, leaving blood spattered down the side.

Two horses were seen running in the road near Aldwych, one of which appeared to be covered in blood, and later near the Limehouse tunnel, before they were recaptured by City of London Police.

The casualties were treated in three incidents that took place in the space of just 10 minutes.

A horse also crashed into a parked double-decker tour bus, smashing the windscreen, and one crashed into a taxi, but no-one was hurt.

Roland, a worker for tour bus company Tootbus, described the chaotic scenes near Victoria.

“I saw horses come from the bus station in front of Victoria run around in a frenzy,” he said.

“People were running around to avoid them – it was total mayhem.”

A second tour bus worker, named only as Mr Mahmood, said: “One of the horses bumped into a bus, then everything got out of control.

“I saw two horses without riders gallop away. One rider managed to calm his horse down.

“An ambulance went to assist another rider who had been injured.”

An Army spokesperson said: “A number of military working horses became loose during routine exercise this morning.

“All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to camp.

“A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention.”

Pictures and videos of two of the animals running amok around London were shared on social media, one of which showed a black 4×4 with blue lights following two of the animals between Tower Bridge and Limehouse tunnel.

City of London Police said on X: “At around 8.40am, we were called about horses that had became loose and were travelling through the City.

“Our officers have contained two horses on the highway near Limehouse. An Army horse box collected the horses and transported them to veterinary care.”