VANDALS sent a stolen car hurtling down a steep hill into a stable, and then set it on fire last night.

The terrified pony inside the stable escaped injury, but today its owner blasted the firebugs and said they could have killed the animal.

Mrs Marie Hawkins said the stable, off Yates Street, Tonge Moor, has been a target for countless vandal attacks.

She said: "This has happened before. Cars are stolen and then pushed down the steep hill towards the stable.

"It was embedded in the stable last night, before being set on fire.

Terrified

"Luckily the horse is okay, but we had to move him for the night because he was terrified.

"I do not think these people realise how much trouble they cause. The pony belongs to my nine and 11-year-old children, and could have been killed. They would have been devastated. It makes me so angry.

"We now have to pay to have the burnt out car removed. The hill is so steep, it has been suggested that only a helicopter will be able to do the job."

Fire crews attended the blaze at 9.50pm and damage was confined to a small section of the stable. The car, an Austin Montego, was destroyed.

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