Police now suspect a stable fire, which left two young girls devastated after their two horses died, was arson.

Twenty fire fighters tackled the blaze at The Stables near Stansfeld Road and prevented it from spreading to nearby stables where up to 30 horses were kept.

But sadly one horse died in the blaze while the other horse was so seriously burned that it was deemed to be in such severe pain that it was shot dead by an armed police officer.

Police have made no arrests and are appealing for witnesses to the incident which happened on May 31 at around 1.20pm.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact detectives at the Newham police, either the Violent Crime Unit on 020 8217 5855 quoting reference 5313756/13 of if you wish to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.