Amazing video shows the moment a deer is caught swimming at Kelham Island in Sheffield

The woodland creature was seen swimming at Kelham Island in Sheffield on Thursday.

It is thought deer have become a more frequent sighting in urban areas over the past year as footfall in town and city centres has dropped due to the coronavirus lockdowns and thousands of people moving to work from home.

According to Brett Hardy, a wildlife photographer from Sheffield, the roe deer was from Parkwood Springs and many of the animals use the nearby railway tracks to get around the city.

Earlier this month, projects were unveiled by the Wildlife Trusts coalition to "rewild" and introduce nature back into urban areas across the country.

The ten projects proposed include the restoration of arable fields to heathland, improving wildflower meadows and quadrupling the size of a nature reserve to help a rare butterfly.

The trusts have raised almost £8 million since launching a campaign to drive the recovery of nature across 30% of land by 2030 six months ago, including £900,000 from the public.

Wildlife Trusts chief executive Craig Bennett said: “Just protecting the nature we have left is not enough; we need to put nature into recovery, and to do so at scale and with urgency.

“We need to transform nature-poor areas into new nature-rich places – and change the way we think about land, looking for opportunities to help nature outside traditional nature reserves.”

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