This is the moment two men take a horse into an apartment building lift in front of stunned residents, promptly leading to their arrest.

The incident was filmed by a CCTV camera in an apartment building in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv last week.

The footage shows two people bringing a horse into the building before taking it into a lift and then back out again.

The horse owner, name not disclosed, told Channel 12: “I came to visit a friend. I didn’t think it would be a problem to bring a horse into the building.

“It was not written anywhere that it is forbidden to bring a horse in. I couldn’t leave it outside. It’s an expensive horse and it would have been stolen.”

After a resident complained to the police, the two men were duly arrested. One man remains in police custody over claims he violated his house arrest and the other has been released with conditions.

The local authorities are also trying to establish if the horse suffered any injuries and reportedly getting a vet to look into the matter.