Runaway reindeer sparks huge emergency operation

Armed police, Royal Marines and the Coastguard have helped “save Christmas” after a reindeer went on the run in a seaside town.

The reindeer fled a festive celebration in the coastal town of Formby, Merseyside, in the early afternoon on Saturday, sparking a huge search operation.

The animal was eventually discovered on a beach, where it was located with thermal binoculars, before being returned to its owners in Wales.

A spokesperson for the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, also known as Southport Lifeboat, said they received a call at around 4.45pm asking them to assist in the search for the escaped reindeer.

Merseyside Police, who had been searching for the deer for several hours by this point, had managed to track down the animal on Formby beach but lost sight of it.

They were worried it might end up in a nearby river, so called in the lifeboat quad team as well as coastguard teams from HM Coastguard Southport and HM Coastguard Crosby to help.

The Southport Lifeboat team managed to locate the animal using thermal binoculars.

They then used quad bikes to shepherd it into some nearby sand dunes, where a police drone was used to monitor the animal.

The reindeer was said to be “pretty tired” by this point and officers hoped it would lie down in the sand dunes and rest, which it eventually did.

A vet travelled from Salisbury, Wiltshire, with sedatives, and plans were made to tranquilise the animal and then get it in a trailer and back to its stable.

The Southport Lifeboat crew were stood down at around 10pm, having spent around five hours assisting in the search.

The vet was supported by the Royal Marines, who were on exercise in a nearby firing range, and managed to sedate the animal at around 1.20am on Sunday morning.

The spokesperson for Southport Lifeboat described the evening’s events as “bizarre”, adding: “It’s quite topical for the time of year, isn’t it?”

They said the emergency services are happy to “lend a hand” and all played a part in the rescue.

“Christmas is saved thanks to some great work from multiple agencies,” Southport Lifeboat added.

HM Coastguard Crosby posted about the rescue on Facebook, commenting: “Thankfully Christmas is saved thanks to all agencies involved.”