I thought it was a dog but it was a deer wandering around Penwortham!

A Penwortham resident has taken to social media to share a pleasant surprise she encountered when leaving the house on Tuesday morning - a wild deer strolling the streets.

In a post shared to the Facebook group Penwortham Past and Present, Angela Hooper shared an image and video of a deer she had spotted on Margaret Road near the River Ribble.

In the caption, Angela wrote: “This made my morning finally got to see one of the Penwortham Deers … so beautiful.”

In the video, the deer, who looks young and has striking white markings on its face, appears to come out of someone’s back garden and stand still on the drive before running off down Margaret Road.

Angela told the Post: “I thought it as a big dog at first glance but then I quickly realised it was a deer. It made my day! He was so beautiful! It’s good to see that nature can still thrive amongst the many challenges that urban life can present.”

In the comments to the post, many residents expressed their delighted surpise at seeing a deer in Penwortham.

One even said that they had lived in the town for nearly three years without seeing a Penwortham deer so they were an “urban myth” until now.

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Another Facebook user then said they had seen the same deer near Talbot Road that same day, whilst others shared their stories of having seen deers in Penwortham before.

Roads listed by residents included the Penwortham Bypass, on Liverpool Road, Tram Road and Carwood Road.

Currently six breeds of deer can be found in the UK, if you need help identifying a breed or want to know what to do if you find a lost or poorly deer, check out the British Deer Society website.