BATTLING Brandy and Frances have defied the odds to become the UK's only surviving Shire horse twins.

And their Rossendale owners believe their survival is partly thanks to homeopathic powers used after one of the foals was born.

The week-old horses, who live on Hawthorn Farm, Waterfoot, defied medical expectations when they were born.

Their mother Lady, gave birth to the pair without their owners Emily and Kevin Millar knowing about the second foal.

Emily, 26, said: "I saw something wriggling and Lady went to the other side of the field to give birth to Brandy. We couldn't believe it."

Emily's mum, Kendall Dootson, runs her company Hawthorn Estates with husband Geoff which looks after retail and business parks and offers aromatherapy in the office.

Kendall said: "We were in Cornwall and when we got back we found Brandy throwing fits and exhibiting symptoms of pain. We gave him warm milk with egg yolk, syrup, kaolin and morphine and some brandy.

"Not surprisingly he went to sleep, the vet then came and treated it with a fluid drip, steroids and antibiotics, but things weren't looking optimistic."

Brandy wasn't getting enough oxygen to his brain because of bad circulation. He needed help with blood and lymph circulation, detoxification, digestion and his appetite.

Kendall mixed a homeopathic concoction designed to help these symptoms using juniper, which helps detoxify, and Cyprus and peppermint oils among others to help Brandy.

She added: "We gave him an aromatherapy massage every day and we saw a huge improvement. We think this helped his survival and would encourage other people to try it. We've stopped giving him the massages now or else he'll start to think he's human."

Vets say twins only have a ten per cent chance of survival.

A spokesman for the Shire Horse Society based in Peterborough, said: "We haven't heard of any births this year or last year. It's extremely rare for twins to be born and survive."

As a tribute to Russell Haworth, the family's vet, of Stanley House Vets, Colne, Brandy's Pedigree name is Hawthorn Russell.

Russell said: "It's a lovely gesture. He's lucky to be here. Homeopathic remedies are more common. It doesn't do any harm and if the family think it's helped then that could well be the case."