A baby deer rescued from her dead mother's womb at the roadside has now also died.

The female muntjac was cut from her mother, who was struck by a vehicle along Holt Road near Cromer, in the early hours of November 11.

While signs for recovery initally appeared promising, the fawn took a turn for the worse and died less than a fortnight after she was saved.

A passing motorist, an undercover animal welfare investigator, had found the body of the doe and said he had initially intended to drag the dead animal to the side of the road.

But as he got closer he noticed that something was moving inside it.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous because of his job, took the tiny female fawn to the home of Wendy Valentine, founder of Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, near Norwich, where he works.

The baby deer pulled through the initial ordeal and was being looked after at the home of her rescuer when she died.

'It's been very distressing,' said the rescuer. 'We're all upset.

'We put a lot of effort in to try and save it and it's not nice when something like this does happen.'

Speaking after the deer was first brought to the centre, Ms Valentine said: 'You have to be very quick because once the mother dies the baby also dies very quickly, so the deer must have only just been hit.'

She said the deer 'just about pulled through' after the crash.

Together with the rescuer she had dried off the animal with a hairdryer before feeding her with a special mixture called colostrum to help boost her immune system.

Sadly the deer died before she could be released with other deer looked after by Hillside Animal Sanctuary.