A DEER was rescued by firefighters when its antlers became trapped after it wandered on to a school’s grounds.

An off-duty firefighter discovered the distressed fully grown adult male in playing fields at Alder Grange Community Technology College at 7am on Tuesday.

It was entangled in almost 200 metres of the orange plastic fence, used around the site while the new sixth form centre is being built.

The deer began thrashing around when firefighters tried to approach it.

A specialist large animal rescue team was called from Nelson and they placed a sheet over its head and it calmed down.

Firefighters then cut the plastic, and the deer then walked into the wood before wandering off.