Panicked deer freed from abbey railings dies

A DEER died after it became trapped in railings at a Yorkshire abbey and had to be rescued by firefighters.

A fire crew from Selby was called out to the town's abbey at about 2pm on Saturday after the male roe deer crashed into the railings and became stuck after being startled by passers-by.

Bus driver Graham Watson, 41, from Selby, who called the emergency services, said: "It is not often you see a deer running around a town centre on a Saturday lunchtime, so quite a few people were understandably stopping to have a look and take a photo. But the deer was very startled and panicked.

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"We were worried that it was going to run down to the train station and head on to the railway line. Two of my colleagues went down to make sure that didn't happen, but the deer sprung up and knocked one of them flying.

"Eventually it crashed into the railings and found itself stuck, so that is when I dialled for the fire service to come out and help free it."

The deer was successfully released and was taken to secluded woodland to recover after the crew sought advice from the RSCPA. When the firefighters returned to check on the animal two hours later, however, they found it had died. The RSPCA was contacted again to dispose of the deer's body.

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