With five deer rescues in five weeks it is thought quieter roads could be one cause for wild animals venturing further in to urban areas across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire

The RSPCA has been rescuing more deer from urban areas in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire during lockdown than it would expect to deal with for the whole year.

In the latest incident a deer was spotted running around the Hyson Green area of Nottingham and there was concern the animal was going to cause a road traffic accident because she was running around frightened by vehicles and people in the area.

Police officers were called to the scene and managed to contain the exhausted female roe deer in the Asda car park in Radford Road until the RSPCA arrived.

Simon Parker, RSPCA chief inspector for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, was sent to assist and sedated the deer before taking her to a safe woodland location where she was safely released back into the wild.

This is the fifth time Simon has been called out to help deer which have become trapped in urban environments during lockdown.

On May 24 he was called to help return a roe to the wild after it was spotted on CCTV in the grounds of Mansfield Police Station.

Officer said officers had “no idea” how the animal got into the compound, which is surrounded by a 6ft (1.8 metre) fence and again the deer was sedated and returned to nearby woods.

A few days later he was called out to a deer which had become trapped after jumping over a wall in Belper, Derbyshire, and the animal was stuck in a wooded area between the A6 and the railway line. Again the deer was sedated before being moved to safety.

Earlier in the month he also had to rescue a stag from Wollaton Park in Nottingham and a deer which was stuck on Lady Bay Bridge in Nottingham. On this occasion the deer had been hit by a car and was found badly injured and sadly she was put to sleep to end her suffering.

Simon said: “I would usually expect to rescue deer in these situations about five times in an entire year – but recently I have been called out to five incidents in as many weeks.

“It seems lockdown has encouraged wildlife to venture further out from where they normally would as the roads are quieter and so are towns and cities.”

More information about deer is available here.

The RSPCA is urging anyone who spots a deer in distress to contact them on 0300 123 4999.

To help the RSPCA keep helping animals and to keep animal hospitals and centres running for emergency treatment, and round the clock care through these unprecedented times, donate whatever you can spare at rspca.org.uk/covid