A Fair Oak teenager has told how she thought her friend had died in a road crash after which a horse had to be put down.

Amy Lawrence and Justine Rooney, both aged 14, were doing a good turn by taking two horses, Megan, a New Forest pony, and Fizza, a Welsh Cross from a yard to warm stables for the night.

They had only got about 100 yards along Winchester Road when disaster struck.

Amy saw Justine, who had been walking with Megan, go flying in the air and end up lying in the road.

"Justine was screaming and shouting. I told her to stay still.

"Megan tried to get up but she could not move her back and dragged herself to the edge of the road."

Despite attempts to save the injured horse it had to be put down by a vet.

Justine was lucky to have escaped with bruises and cuts to her legs and back.

Amy was very shaken by the incident and is still having nightmares.

Her mum Debbie Lawrence said: "She is still very traumatised."

Police have appealed for witnesses to last Sunday's accident, which also involved a bus and a car.

It was a route that the girls have regularly walked with horses and Mrs Lawrence said: "The girls were both wearing high-visibility clothing with reflective white strips.

"They were walking as they should have been and the horses were pushed into the bushes."

The road between Colden Common and Fair Oak has a sign showing that it is used by horses.

The two horses were being moved to stables because their rugs needed to be dried after being soaked by the rain. Owner of the horses, 20-year-old Tammy Slater said Megan, who was a very friendly horse, suffered a broken pelvis. The 41-year-old female car driver from Eastleigh was admitted to intensive care at Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital. The 26-year-old male bus driver from Southamp-ton suffered a bruised knee.