A YORK man died four weeks after being kicked by a horse tethered on land near his home.

A post-mortem examination was due to take place today on animal lover Les Cox, 82, of Newland Park Drive, Heslington, who was injured in the incident on January 29.

It is not yet known if there was a link between the incident and Mr Cox's death on Monday.

A Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance spokeswoman said a crew was called to the Computer Sciences Department of the University of York's Heslington site after a man was kicked by a horse.

Mr Cox was taken by ambulance to York District Hospital. He died in hospital on Monday leaving a brother, Charles, who lives in Strensall. According to a family member Mr Cox, who lived alone, had been walking his Labrador Mindy and was kicked when he stopped to feed the horses, which had been tethered next to the university library.

University ground and security staff helped the pensioner before the ambulance arrived.

University spokeswoman Hilary Layton said staff had been unable to identify the owners, who had removed the horses within the last few days.

She said: "The gentleman was near the horses and was kicked. A member of our ground staff saw him and called an ambulance and our security staff waited with him while the ambulance came.

"The horses were on open land near the computer science building next to the library. They just get left there from time to time - there's very little we can do about it. It's a problem in so far as it's our land and we would rather not have horses there, but it doesn't cause other problems. This was a very unfortunate incident and the fact is the horses shouldn't have been there. It's very sad."

Ms Layton said staff often had to consult with the police and City of York Council over the recurring problem, but they were unable to remove the horses themselves.

A neighbour of Mr Cox, who did not want to be named, said people should be wary about approaching horses. He said: "It should be a warning to other people.

"Anybody not sure of what a horse is doing, well this is what they can do. They are unpredictable."

Mr Cox's funeral service is due to take place at York Crematorium on Wednesday at 11.30am. Donations can be made at the service to the RSPCA at Landing Lane, York.

Updated: 10:47 Friday, March 01, 2002