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 today, 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 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 deer which was then taken away in an RSPCA van.