A young “exhausted” deer has been rescued by a lifeboat crew after they spotted it swimming in the Solent.

The deer, of the muntjac variety found in the New Forest, had apparently been carried three miles across the strait by the tide, to end up off Princes Green, Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.

“To say we were surprised was an understatement,” Myles Hussey, Cowes RNLI lifeboat helm said.

“Even the Coastguard had to be told three times before they believed us.”

The young deer was “exhausted and cold” when the crew managed to get it onto the boat on Saturday, Mr Hussey said.

It was wrapped in a blanket and taken back to the lifeboat station where it was given a drink as it waited to be picked up by the RSPCA.

Mr Hussey said the crew “named the youngster Ebbing” because of “the tide at the time”.

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