RSPCA workers thought they might be dealing with a Christmas Rudolf prank when they received a call about a deer with a red nose trapped in Dulverton High Street.

But they soon realised the call was genuine when the caller explained that a female deer with a red bloody nose had got into the wall yard behind fishing and gun shop Lance Nicholson.

She had gone into the yard by herself and panicked when she realised she was trapped, running at the wall in fear and injuring her nose in the process.

RSPCA inspectors used string nets to confine her in a small area and threw a blanket over her head to catch her.

Thankfully the injury to her nose was just a surface wound and did not require medical treatment.

The deer was then put in a kennel in the back of an RSPCA van and released in a nearby area of woodland.

RSPCA chief inspector John Pollock, who was part of the rescue team, said: “It wasn’t Rudolf but it was a genuine red-nosed deer in need of help.

“The shop owner had followed advice and done all the right things but in the end it was clear that while she had got herself in, she wasn’t able to get out without help.

“We were able to return her to the woods that she would have come from, which were very close by, and hopefully she won’t make the mistake of trying to go Christmas shopping again.”