IT might look like a scene from a woodland clearing but this photograph was taken in a Bromley Cross back garden.

Amanda Williams, aged 36, looked out of the back window of her Rodmell Close home to see three roe deer resting their legs.

She made a quick call to her father, John Williams, aged 64, of Chetwyn Avenue, who brought his camera.

"We've never seen any deer before but they were there for about an hour," said Mr Williams.

"I think one was the mother and she would get up and start grazing occasionally."

Mr Williams said the garden was wooded at the far end and backed on to land known locally as "The Valley" between Blackburn Road and Darwen Road.

David Kenyon, British Deer Society director for England and Wales, said: "It's not common to see deer in suburban gardens but it's becoming more so.

"Deer are very successful at the moment because modern, environmentally friendly agricultural policies have effectively turned our farmland into a deer park.

"It's lovely to see deer in your garden but they do love eating nice things and so people's roses can take a bit of a welly!"

While people have tried various methods of keeping deer out of their gardens, such as motion-activated sprinkler systems or strong smelling plants, the only way to guarantee deer will not wander on to your property is to put up a 1.5m high fence.