What to do if you're involved in or witness a road accident involving a deer

The RSPCA estimates more than 74,000 deer are involved in collisions with cars in the UK each year, resulting in hundreds of injuries to motorists and several fatalities.

The Lincolnshire Deer Group, which has trained responders around the county, attended around 200 call-outs in the county last year.

There is a greater risk in winter months with the longer hours of darkness, and drivers are asked to reduce their speed and take extra care in areas where deer are active.

But what should we do if the worst happens?

Lincolnshire Deer Group chairman Sheila Grimstead urges anyone who has been in collision with a deer to stop and report it.

“You should stop as soon as you can and pull into a safe area, put your hazard lights on and be careful of passing traffic,” she said.

“If the deer is injured you can call 101, but if people are also injured, call 999.

“We also suggest people use the what3words app which will tell police exactly where they are.”

But dead or injured deer should not be moved.

“People shouldn’t move the deer, particularly if it’s severely injured because it will hurt it even more and people do get killed doing this,” she added.

“If the deer is thrashing about and if you have a soft cloth, cover their face with it and they will calm down.”

The group was formed in 1997 to raise the awareness of wild deer issues of which roads is one.

"The main issues we have now, there are too many cars on the road, urbanisation is encroaching on deer areas and people drive too fast," Sheila added.

"Motorists don't always notice signs and also deer are very fast and can jump out at you willy nilly.

"There are electronically controlled signs which discourage deer, but they are very expensive and the danger is that the deer get used to them."

Visit www.lincolnshiredeergroup.co.uk for more information.

You can also call the RSPCA’s emergency number on 0300 1234 999.

And to report road traffic incidents involving deer or incidents of dead deer on the roads, visit www.deercollisions.co.uk/pages/form.html.