Wild horses have been let loose to roam around and help sustain an environmentally important nature reserve in Kent.

The Konik horses, which are the closest living relatives of the extinct Tarpan, a wild forest horse that lived in Britain during Neolithic times, have been released at Wraik Hill near Whitstable.

Wild Koniks in Kent

Kent Wildlife Trust, which manages the reserve, and the conservation charity Wildwood Trust, which has another five herds of wild horses across the county, said the horses would graze the area and keep the grass short.

They said this action would allow a wide range of grassland species to grow, which in turn would increase bio-diversity in the area.

Peter Smith, chief executive of Wildwood, said: “This expands the number of sites being managed by Koniks to six which is really exciting.

“The work the horses are doing across Kent is invaluable they really are helping to breathe life into so many rare habitats.”

The Koniks will also help control the scrub in the area, which used to be cut back using heavy machinery.

Warblers and nightingales, which are listed as rare species, live in the reserve.

Wildwood plans to reintroduce wild horses across the country to help improve bio-diversity.

The horses have a fascinating history and were nearly made extinct during the Second World War.

Some of their ancestors were stolen by Nazi genetic experimenters working under Reich marshal Hermann Goering, who wanted to create a pure Arian wild horse.

But luckily the Polish scientists who were tasked with looking after the horses were able to save some of them. After the war the herds they managed to protect were allowed to repopulate the national parks of Poland under the Soviet occupation.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Koniks were sent to national parks across Europe.