A reindeer sparked a major search operation after fleeing from a Christmas celebration.
Emergency services, including armed police officers and members of the Royal Marines, were called to help find the animal – named Buddy – after he escaped from Santa’s Enchanted Forest in Formby, Merseyside, on Saturday afternoon.
Merseyside Police said it first received reports that the reindeer was on the loose at around 1.45pm.
Fearing he might end up in a river, the force called in teams from the coastguard to help track him down.
Buddy, from north Wales, was thankfully found fast asleep in some sand dunes on Formby Beach – near to where he went missing – in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Steve Howard, owner of Santa’s Enchanted Forest, said Buddy had become overexcited, adding: ‘I think he was just doing a trial run for Christmas Eve.’
The reindeer was found through a pair of thermal binoculars, while a lifeboat quad bike was used to navigate him through the dunes.
Buddy laid down to rest as a vet administered some sedatives to safely return him home.
The vet was assisted by some Royal Marines, who were working at a firing range nearby.
Buddy was then put in a trailer and taken back to his stable, the BBC first reported.
Mr Howard said the young reindeer is ‘full of beans’ and loves children, especially when they hand feed him moss.
‘We have had the reindeers each year for about seven years now and on this occasion Buddy got excited and jumped the enclosure,’ he said.
Southport Lifeboat added: ‘Christmas is saved thanks to some great work from multiple agencies.’
Buddy’s owners confirmed he will be ‘taking it easy for the rest of the year’, and is back in north Wales where he is ‘safe, warm and snuggled up’.
