FIREFIGHTERS have cut a deer free after it got its head and half its body stuck through metal railings in Bradford.

The rescue happened just before 2.30pm yesterday, at Scotchman Road allotments in Manningham, after a passer-by raised the alarm with the RSPCA and dialled 999.

Two men working on the allotments nearby tried to calm the deer by covering its head with a blanket until help from Shipley Fire Station arrived.

A witness said: “It looked as though the deer had been trying to get out of the allotments. There was a lot of hair everywhere, it had really been struggling to get unstuck. Heaton Woods are nearby, I don’t know if that’s where it was trying to head to.”

Firefighters used metal cutters to release the animal which was then taken away in an RSPCA van.

Another onlooker said: “The deer looked a bit jittery but I think it was going to be alL right. They had a kind of cage waiting and they put it in it before it was put in the van.”

No-one from the RSPCA was available for comment.