A reindeer caused havoc in Nottingham after escaping from a festive event at supermarket and galloping down a residential street.

Witnesses say the animal was startled when a driver sounded their car horn near the branch of Tesco, causing the beast to slip his rope and bolt.

Residents said it narrowly avoided being hit by a bus.

Resident Gemma Green was putting Christmas cards up in her window when the reindeer charged down the street, with handlers in hot pursuit.

It was “like the scene from Arthur Christmas where Santa loses his reindeer”, Ms Green told The Nottingham Post.

“I thought I was seeing things at first.”

The reindeer was captured shortly afterwards in a nearby garden (Raymonds Press)

“It came charging past my house with a group of people following behind”, local resident Amanda Walker, 35, told The Mirror.

“It was an incredible sight. You get the odd squirrel around here, but never a reindeer.”

The animal was “being led out of its trailer when there was a loud beep from a car horn, which must have startled it”, said Danny Hall, 28.

"The poor thing looked really scared and just ran off. It was almost hit by a bus. It was completely bizarre."

Reindeer are "flight animals by nature”, said Sam Manning from The Animal Company, who ran the event at Tesco in Carlton.

“Once they are in the pen they are fine, but because he got free he ran away”, she said.

"We managed to find him safely in the garden and get him back into the truck. Aside from that, everyone had a great time meeting Santa and having their pictures taken with the reindeer", Ms Manning told The Nottingham Post.

The animal was captured in a nearby garden and returned to the event shortly afterwards