Woman hospitalised after deer jumps over her on busy Essex high street

A woman had to visit hospital after a deer tried to jump over her on a busy shopping street and hit her in the face (Rex features)

A woman had to visit hospital after a deer tried to jump over her on a busy shopping street and hit her in the face.

The animal was spotted running down Chelmsford High Street on Sunday afternoon and was later seen near the A12.

Mick McDonagh, manager of the High Chelmer shopping centre, said: “We saw it come running from Bellmead.”

“It tried to leap over a young lady and unfortunately hit her.”

“It turned left into an oncoming bus lane on New London Road and then disappeared.”

The woman was taken to Broomfield Hospital with a minor head injury and later discharged.

A rolling roadblock was put in place but the deer was not seen again.

Essex Wildlife Trust said it was difficult to identify the species of deer from the CCTV image.

Mark Iley, a biodiversity officer for the trust, said: “This is very unusual behaviour for a deer, as they are usually very secretive, especially during daylight hours. Possibly the animal had been disturbed and separated from its group.”

“The animal may have become trapped along the road corridor and found itself funnelled into the town centre area, where it would have become extremely disorientated and frightened.

“The injury to the bystander was unfortunate but not a deliberate act by the deer, which are not aggressive animals.”