Chairman of Warwickshire Hunt, Sam Butler said: “It caused a great deal of distress and it is very lucky no-one was injured."

He said three horses, believed to be kept at the hunt's kennels in Little Kineton, were being exercised along the road with each one leading another.

"Unfortunately one was hit by a vehicle resulting in a leg being broken. You can't mend a broken leg in a horse and it had to be humanely destoyed," he said.

"Fortunately hunt staff were less than half a mile away and were down there to deal with it as quickly as possible.

"They have the experience to deal with incidents like this and it was dealt with extremely quickly to ensure as little distress as possible."

Police were called to the scene and had to wash blood from the road.

The supermarket has apologised over the incident. A spokesperson said: "We were sorry to hear about this sad accident. Our driver acted responsibly throughout and we are in contact with the owner."