Farmer's delight after rescue of newborn deer

Steve Hopper, a farmer from South Brent, took in Milly the fawn

A farmer from Devon has shared his delight that a newborn deer he rescued has been settling in well to her new home.

Steve Hopper, a farmer from South Brent, took in Milly the fawn last year after a well-meaning walker drove her to a vets after thinking she had been abandoned.

If people find newly-born nesting fawns, they should leave them be because it was believed the animals' survival depended on them being left alone, vets said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, Mr Hopper said that, without the support from members within the local community, she may not have survived.

Milly the fawn has been living for the past years with Mr Hopper and his dogs

He said: "She was brought to me through a vet, she was a newborn and a lady found her and took her out of her resting place thinking she was abandoned.

"The vets had no idea where the deer came from, other than the Moretonhampstead area, so I went down, picked her up and then went on a crash course on how to rear a baby deer.

"Pennywell Farm have been brilliant. I don't think she would have survived without them providing us with about four litres of goats milk a day, which a reared deer needs."

He added: "I've planted trees across my two acres, probably 60 trees, and she's eaten a lot of them."