A DEER was trapped on top of a 40ft high ridge for three days until it was rescued by animal loving volunteers.

The female Roe deer was stuck behind a fence on the 15ft wide sandstone ridge at Sandy Ridge in Uckfield but was helped free by volunteers at the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) on today.

WRAS founder Trevor Weeks was called to the scene with Kathy Martyn and Chris Riddington and used ladders to climb over the fence to access the ledge and set up a net across one end to catch the deer.

Ms Martyn hid behind a tree stump while Mr Weeks and Mr Riddington encouraged the deer towards her.

She said: “It wasn’t long before I could hear the deer crashing through the vegetation and it the suddenly ran straight into the net. I sprang into action and called for back-up from Chris and Trevor who quickly joined me in gaining full control over the deer.” The trio spent 40 minutes planning the rescue but only took 14 minutes to rescue the animal. The deer was wrapped in a blanket and strapped to a stretcher to be lifted over the fence into the charity’s ambulance. They drove the deer to a field two minutes away where it was released and darted off unharmed.

 

Mr Weeks said: “The rescue operation was a dangerous one and although we ensured we stayed far enough from the edge of the 40ft drop we were worried the deer could be frightened and jump potentially to its death. “Our approach had to be very careful and move into position quickly to encourage the deer in the right direction and into the net. These rescues are very stressful to both rescuers and deer and have to be undertaken as quickly as possible to avoid the deer having a heart attack.

“We are not sure how the deer got into the area. According to residents it was stuck there for three days.”

Watch a video of the rescue at theargus.co.uk.

Factfile

The East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service’s centre is capable of holding up to 200 casualties at a time.

It operates four veterinary ambulances and more than 80 volunteers work hard to keep the award-winning charity going.

It receives around 3,000 calls a year – sometimes with up to 100 calls a day.

Call outs can take up to two-and-a-half hours to deal with.

The organisation is always grateful for donations. To make a contribution visit wildlife ambulance.org, call 01825 873003, or write to East Sussex WRAS, PO Box 2148, Seaford, BN25 9DE.