A BUCK had a lucky escape after his antlers got tangled in netting on a golf course.

The distressed deer was spotted tangled in the net at Mannings Heath Gold Club in Horsham.

Golf club staff and RSPCA officers managed to hold the deer down to cut him free, before he loped away uninjured on September 10.

Marie Stevens, animal welfare officer, said it was good to have a happy ending for the deer.

She said: “He was actually fortunate to have had such a lucky escape.

“Deer and other animals can be seriously injured after getting caught up in nets like this, sometimes fatally.

“Netting of every type poses a dangerous hazard to our wildlife and it is important to remind the public how lethal it can be to animals.

“Netting like these practice nets and goal nets pose a real hazard to wild animals as they can quickly be entangled by them and they then injure themselves in trying to escape.

“Sadly we get too many calls to rescue injured wild animals that are trapped in them.

“There is a really simple way to prevent this from happening and that is for nets to be removed or tied up after use and safely stored away.”

To help the RSPCA rescue animals text HELP to 78866 to donate £3.