THE father of Radio 1 star Sara Cox is desperately trying to contact his daughter to break the news that her favourite childhood horse is fighting for its life after an attack by a sadistic arsonist.

Sara Cox used to ride Gus, the horse set alight and left to die by a fireraiser on a petrol attack on his stable.

The 26-year-old DJ cared for the animal when she was a schoolgirl and used to ride him over fields near her Little Lever home.

Although she has not been told of Gus' terrible plight -- caused when the arsonist poured petrol over the horse and set it alight -- her father, Len, says she would be devastated.

Sara is away on holiday and Len is trying to get a message to her. He said: "Sara will be very upset about what has happened. She loved Gus and really cared for him. I want to contact her to tell her.

"This incident is terrible and so sick. I would like to get my hands on the person who did this."

Gus is showing slight signs of recovery, but he is still very poorly and is having painkilling injections.

His left eye has opened up slightly. It is not yet known whether the blaze has left him blind.

Owner Geoffrey McWilliams, aged 51, of Cedar Avenue, Little Lever, said: "He's not out of the woods yet, but there are signs that he's getting better. We're just praying he makes a good recovery, although he's still having trouble breathing." Gus has been left badly disfigured with burns to his face and body.

The fire was spotted at 5.40am on Saturday when Mr McWilliams was woken by his dogs barking. He looked out of the window to see his stables on fire.

Although there were five horses in the stable, only Gus was injured. Mr McWilliams and his wife Kath, aged 45, frantically put out the fire using a hose pipe. Police are still probing the attack. An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident. He was released on bail pending forensic tests.