Bulgarian police have confiscated a horse after it was used to transport stolen wood.

Rushud Saliev, 42, from the town of Karnobat, says his wife has left him over the incident.

Police said the legislation was normally applied to vehicles used to commit a crime but argued at court that the one horse power cart used by Saliev also came under the same rules, and the court agreed.

Saliev, meanwhile, has sent an open letter to Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Nihat Kabil, asking for his horse back.

He wrote: "My wife was furious when I lost the horse, and has said she will leave me unless I get it back. I can't live without my wife, but she doesn't want me without the horse."