A dealer who failed to provide adequate care for his horses was jailed for 18 weeks today.

James Taylor, 59, was also banned from keeping horses for 10 years, at King's Lynn magistrates court.

Taylor, of Hay Green Travellers' site in Terrington St Clement, near King's Lynn, pleaded guilty last month to five offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2009, involving four mares he kept at his farm in Oxborough, between January and March 2015.

RSPCA inspector Chris Nice said: 'These horses were in poor condition when I observed them and in clear need of care.

'They were being kept on the site amongst a large number of other horses, including some which were already dead.

'The three pregnant mares and a foal had all been allowed to lose considerable body weight.

'Their only source of water was from a series of ditches contaminated by the decomposing remains of their companions.

'Their hooves were also in terrible condition and they were infested with lice and worms.

'They could not go on living in those conditions and needed immediate vet care and proper forage.

'The vet who came to examine them confirmed they were likely to suffer further if left in the current conditions, so the police were able to remove them and place them into our care.'

Taylor was ordered to pay costs of £1,183.