A DEER rescued from a culvert was the second saved by firefighters at the site in a week.

Graham Clark said he and his wife were walking on the moor near Sawood Lane, Oxenhope, on Monday when they spotted the animal in distress 12 feet down in the water channel.

They called the fire brigade just as they had on the Bank Holiday weekend when they came across the same situation.

Mr Clark said: "It looked like it had a broken leg but stood up. We probably saved its life. We felt quite upset."

He added that locals had reported on social media that it had been in the culvert - which runs from Thornton Moor Reservoir to Leeming Reservoir - since Friday.

He said he thought the deer had got into the culvert during the dry spell as there was water in it.

He thought a plank acting as a ramp for wildlife to escape the culvert was at too steep an angle for the deer to manage. The culverts were also a hazard because of tunnels.

He added that deer had been in the area all winter and had been roaming around more since farmers released cattle into the fields.

"If they get stuck down there they're in trouble."

A specialist technical rescue team from Cleckheaton attended the incident.

Firefighters reported that the deer was rescued uninjured and released back into the wild after assessment and advice from RSPCA inspector and vet.