Deer on loose in Christchurch suburb, one hits car

Deer have been on the loose in a Christchurch suburb, with one reportedly hitting a car and another causing damage to a house.

A police spokesperson said there had been several reports of deer being seen in the Halswell area since 1pm on Sunday.

One such sighting related to a car being damaged, police said.

"One of those related to a car hitting a deer, however, the deer ran off into bushes, the car driver was OK, [but] their car was a bit damaged."

There had not been any further sightings of deer since 5.30pm, the spokesperson said.

Christchurch City Council said animal management staff had received a call about the deer.

The deer were last seen by officers two hours ago, and "have not been seen since".

Halswell resident Sam Palmer said one of the deer had caused damage to his house.

"I'd been out and about all day, and then I got home about 4pm, and I noticed some damage to the eaves of our house, and a really dirty and smelly window."

Palmer said he thought the damage might have been caused by vandalism, until he saw a video of the deer on his street.

"I put two and two together and that explained the smell and the hairs on the window."

"It'd have punched upwards. So it had hit the window and gone upwards through the eaves of our house."

The deer had left a hole, and left Palmer searching for a repairman.

"If you know a builder that's not too deer, that'd be great."