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Rescuers were horrified to find 26 starving horses and ponies left to die near the castle where TV’s Downton Abbey is filmed.

An RSPCA team mounted a huge operation with other charity workers and police to save the seriously ill animals , abandoned in a meadow at Highclere, Hants.

The team was sickened to find the horses stumbling around at death’s door, in need of urgent medical attention.

Sarah Smith, of the charity World Horse Welfare’s, said “It was

really distressing to see these vulnerable horses abandoned. Many were in need of emergency treatment.”

(Image: Getty)

The horses were taken away for treatment by veterinary staff, who are nursing them back to health.

But police are mystified about who dumped the horses because they had not been microchipped, as required.

The suspicion is that they were brought in from outside the immediate area – knowing locals would save them.

The RSPCA’s Lee Hopgood said: “These horses had to be removed after a vet sadly confirmed they were all either suffering unnecessarily or their needs were not being met.”

(Image: Wessex News)

The RSPCA also worked with Redwings Horse Sanctuary, as well as Hampshire police, World Horse Welfare, and equine vets to save the animals.

The animal welfare charity has recorded an enormous increase in the number of horses taken in over the past year – 979 were rescued in 2016, 55 per cent up on the year before.

Both the exterior and interior of Highclere Castle – occupied by Lord and Lady Carnarvon, a keen horsewoman, – feature in Downton Abbey.