Oh deer! Muntjac gets stuck on M&S escalator

This is not just any animal rescue, this is an M&S animal rescue.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary was called out to Marks & Spencer in Norwich after staff found a muntjac stuck within the glass barrier of a ground-floor escalator.

The store's Rampant Horse Street entrance was temporarily closed to help reduce stress on the deer, which has been named Lucy and is now recovering at one of the sanctuary's sites.

Hillside founder Wendy Valentine said the rescue, which happened at about 17:30 BST on Tuesday, was "certainly one to remember".

An M&S spokesperson said: "We're grateful to our Norwich store colleagues for their swift response when an unexpected visitor entered the store on Tuesday.

"The team moved quickly to keep the muntjac deer calm, and with the help of Hillside Animal Sanctuary, it was safely rescued."

Ian Hayward was sent to free the female deer that was stuck between the escalator and a pane of glass on its back.

He said the rescue took about five minutes to free the deer from a narrow six-inch (15cm) gap by putting his hands around the animal's neck and shoulders and sliding it out.

It was then transported in a carrier to the sanctuary with only minor injuries.

Valentine said: "When Ian arrived, he said that M&S staff had done everything possible to keep the little deer as calm and quiet as possible, including shutting the store until help arrived.

"We are now called out to countless emergency deer rescues, often receiving several calls in a single day from members of the public who find road-injured deer or deer trapped in unusual and often life-threatening situations."

Stefanie Leary, operations manager at Hillside Animal Sanctuary, said no-one had any idea how the animal got into the shop.

"It is unusual to find a muntjac in Norwich city, maybe she just wandered in there and got a bit panicked, and when they get panicked, they run," she said.

"With so many roads being built, like the Northern Distributor Road, for example, how much of the natural area has been destroyed, and it's taking over all their habitat, and where else have they got to go? There is less rural areas... there's hundreds of housing being built on their homes."

She said the sanctuary has about 100 rescued deer in its care and has recently purchased woodland to be used for the deer and wild deer.

"Lucy will stay at the sanctuary with us because, being a muntjac, we are not allowed to release her because she is classed as an invasive species — she's a very lucky little deer."

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