A CARROT Crunch, which took place at the South West Christmas Equine Fair in Exeter, raised £500 for the South West Equine Protection charity.

The annual Carrot Crunch aims to sell bags of carrots to raise money for the charity and this year, vouchers were supplied by Brinicombe Equine, Cornwall Farmers and Youngs Animal Feeds, which were used to provide 800, 12kg bags of carrots — all of which were bought by supporters of the charity who attended the event.

Maureen Rolls from South West Equine Protection said: 'Our purpose is to help equines in our region who are abandoned or suffering from neglect or cruelty, whether caused by heartlessness or ignorance. The money raised at the South West Christmas Equine Fair has helped to provide food and fund vet bills for the moor ponies throughout the grip of freezing weather experienced in the South West recently.'

The South West Equine Fair is in its 14th year, and last December set a new attendance record with more than 10,000 horse enthusiasts attending the regional show.

Preparations are underway for this year's event, due to be held over the weekend of December 4 and 5.