By Shane Gladstone
Motorists have been urged to keep their eyes open for deer on the roads in a bid to reduce the number of animal collisions.
The call came alongside research from Autonational Rescue which estimates that 74,000 deer are hit by cars each year in Britain.
It is thought the accidents can lead to injuries for hundreds of people - with the cost of the crashes reaching more than £21 million per year.
And people unlucky enough to hit a deer also feel the pain in their car insurance - with any such accidents likely to see premiums sky rocket, or at least signal the end of your no-claims bonus.
Autonational warned motorists to be wary of deer amid the depths of autumn when commuters are often heading to and from work in the dark.
The group has been working alongside The Deer Initiative - which records collisions between deer and vehicles among other things.
Autonational marketing manager Ronan Hart said: "We are facing a serious problem in the UK's countryside and on the outskirts of our towns and cities and we know that it's getting worse as the deer population increases and our roads get busier.
"There are probably around 200 accidents a day involving deer, and the costs per vehicle with an average insurance claim costing £300, could be reaching as much as £60,000 a day across the UK."
Dr Jochen Langbein, of The Deer Initiative, said: "It's a much bigger problem than people realise and not something that happens once in a blue moon to motorists."
