Officer called to 'abandoned dog' finds toy reindeer

Several reports made to police of a "small, bully type dog" abandoned by a roadside in Derbyshire turned out to be a case of festive faux-paw.

Following calls directing Derbyshire Police to a dog tied up at the top of Slack Hill along Chesterfield Road, near Matlock, an officer was "surprised" to find it was instead a toy reindeer, the force said on Tuesday.

After discovering concerned drivers were barking up the wrong tree, police said Santa's helper was just "resting after a test flight over the [Derbyshire] Dales area".

Police joked they had given the reindeer some "stern words about being seen in the middle of November" and ended up leaving "the fella to his break".

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