PART of the A338 was closed in Bournemouth this morning as police had to put down an injured deer.

Armed officers were called to the southbound carriageway just after 6am to deal with the stag, which was found lying down at the side of the road, near to the Holdenhurst sewage treatment works.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “Enquiries were made to locate a local available deer dispatcher, but this was not successful. Armed officers attended to deal with the deer to prevent it from suffering any further and due to the risk it posed to motorists travelling along the busy dual carriageway.

“One lane of the A338 was closed while officers were dealing with the incident.”

Commuter Faye Goodall said: “The stag was lying right on the white sight line and there appeared to be two armed officers at the scene. I’m guessing they’d shot it a few minutes earlier as it wasn’t moving, which was probably for the best as it could have caused a serious accident on that stretch, if it was trying to get away.”