TWO quick-thinking Brockhollands boys played a part in the dramatic rescue of one of two deer that they found tangled together in woods between Lydney and Bream.

Louis (12) and Oscar (15) Moulinie were walking their dog after school in the woods on Thursday near Brockhollands when they found the two bucks, one white and one dark, locked together by a piece of rope tangled round their antlers.

But every time the the Whitecross pupils approached the animals thrashed around so much that they feared they might be hurt, so they ran to the nearby road to seek assistance.

Unhappily by this time the white buck had died, making the predicament of the remaining animal even more difficult.

The boys hoped to get somebody to contact police and luckily Lydney town councillor Alan Preest was walking home from work along the road at the time. More help arrived in the form of keepers from nearby Lydney Park Estate and a friend of Alan's, Alan Challenger, also stopped and managed to jump in to quickly free the live buck before police arrived.

"It's lucky I came along at the right time," said Cllr Preest. "If the boys had not acted so quickly both deer would have died."

An estate keeper said deer getting tangled in dumped material was getting quite common at this time of year, when the deer are rutting.

"The animals thrash their antlers in trees or on fence posts and pick up things like rope. If they then fight other males their antlers can become locked."

He said people ought to think twice by leaving material that could harm animals around. He also cautioned against getting too close to trapped animals which risks a serious injury.