The reindeer fled a festive celebration in the coastal town of Formby, Merseyside, in the early afternoon on Saturday, sparking a huge search operation
11:23, 01 Dec 2025Updated 11:23, 01 Dec 2025
The reindeer was tracked down after a huge search and rescue effort(Image: Copyright remains with handout provider)
Armed police, Royal Marines and the Coastguard have helped “save Christmas ” after a reindeer went on the run in a seaside town. The reindeer escaped from a festive celebration in the coastal town of Formby, Merseyside, during the early afternoon on Saturday, prompting a massive search operation.
The creature was ultimately found on a beach, where it was spotted using thermal binoculars, before being returned to its owners, believed to be from North Wales.
A spokesperson for Southport Lifeboat, said they received a call at around 4.45pm asking them to assist in the search for the escaped reindeer.
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Merseyside Police, who had been hunting for the deer for several hours by this point, had managed to track down the animal on Formby beach but lost sight of it.
They were concerned it might end up in a nearby river, so called in the lifeboat quad team as well as coastguard teams from HM Coastguard Southport and HM Coastguard Crosby to help.
The Southport Lifeboat team managed to spot the animal using thermal binoculars.
They then used quad bikes to guide it into some nearby sand dunes, where a police drone was used to monitor the animal.
The reindeer escaped from an event in Merseyside
The reindeer was said to be “pretty tired” by this point and officers hoped it would lie down in the sand dunes and rest, which it eventually did.
A vet travelled from Salisbury, Wiltshire, with sedatives, and plans were made to tranquilise the animal and then get it in a trailer and back to its stable. The Southport Lifeboat crew were dismissed around 10pm, after approximately five hours aiding in the search.
The vet received support from the Royal Marines, who were conducting an exercise at a nearby firing range, and successfully sedated the animal around 1.20am on Sunday morning.
The animal was eventually discovered on a beach, where it was located with thermal binoculars(Image: Copyright remains with handout provider)
A spokesperson for Southport Lifeboat characterised the night’s events as “bizarre”, adding: “It’s quite topical for the time of year, isn’t it?”.
They stated that the emergency services are always ready to “lend a hand” and everyone contributed to the rescue.
“Christmas is saved thanks to some great work from multiple agencies,” Southport Lifeboat added.
HM Coastguard Crosby shared about the rescue on Facebook, commenting: “Thankfully Christmas is saved thanks to all agencies involved.”
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