Image copyright Facebook/ Washington Township Police Department

New Jersey police say an officer performed a successful roadside C-section on a deer that had died after being hit by a car on Sunday morning.

In a Facebook post, the Washington Township Police Department said one fawn survived the emergency surgery.

Photos showed officer Jim Vernon swaddling the bloody deer after performing the Caesarean in the middle of the night.

Two fawns were born and the surviving one taken into animal control care.

Image copyright Facebook/ Washington Township Police Department Image caption Photos showed the swaddled fawn in the back seat of the police cruiser

Animal control official Robert Lagonera wrote that Officer Vernon "took the initiative" after being dispatched to a "deceased doe that was just hit and still had moving fawn inside of it".

Mr Lagonera reported that after arriving at the scene, about 70 miles (115km) from New York City, he took the deer home "to dry it off and get it warm while rubbing its chest to help the underdeveloped lungs work".

Later that morning, the policeman and the animal control officer again encountered each other when they were were called to capture a "loose horse" that had escaped its paddock.

Image copyright Facebook/ Washington Township Police Department Image caption A horse and deer means a lot of coffee on Monday morning

"After some finagling we got it back inside," Mr Lagonera wrote in the post.

"Now I'm running around getting the premature fawn the care it needs.

"No amount of coffee is too much today lol."