A FAMILY feared their home was being broken into when a confused muntjac deer smashed through their dining room window.

The Cooksley family, of Crowhurst Road, Colchester, were seconds from calling 999 when they heard the intruder shatter a window pane at 4am on Friday.

Hesitating at the top of the stairs, husband Ben shouted “go away” to the suspected burglar, while wife, Inayah, comforted their 20-month-old daughter, Feroza.

But rather than a masked intruder, Ben discovered a wounded deer had crashed through a sash window and was running around the ground floor of the family home, leaving a trail of blood on the carpet and walls.

Inayah, 32, said: “We were all fast asleep and suddenly I heard the breaking glass and footsteps.

“I thought it was burglars, it was really loud.

“My husband went downstairs trying to be calm but the deer was terrified. It was running around and there was blood and glass all over the dining room floor.

“He opened the back door and tried to shoo it out.”

Inayah said: “You just don’t expect it. The only wildlife around is Hilly Fields but that’s a bit of a walk. I was brought up in London and I’m not used to this kind of thing.”