A MAN has been charged today (Friday) with arson following the death of four horses in a stable fire.

Darren Butlin, 43, of Moors Ley in Walkern, was charged at Stevenage Police Station in relation to a fire at a stable yard in Benington Road, Walkern.

Four horses were killed in the blaze, which ripped through adjoining buildings, during the early hours of October 3.

Butlin has been given conditional bail and is due to appear before Stevenage magistrates on Monday, December 17.