Wildlife takeover of Southport beach continues as deer spotted near Pier

The wilding of Southport beach is continuing so fast that deer have now been spotted in a rare moment near the Pier.

Images taken this morning (Tuesday April 22nd) captured two roe deer feeding on the ‘pleasure’ beach near to Ocean Plaza.

While native to the local coastline the deer tend to prefer the grassy dunes of Ainsdale and woodland of Formby. It’s rare to see them so close to the town centre.

An OTS reader who took the images said they were at the gym when they spotted the pair feeding on grass just the left of Southport Pier.

They told OTS “I’ve been coming here at the crack of dawn for years and I’ve never once seen deer on the beach.

“They were strolling down as calmly as you like eating the grass and looking round. Nobody was near them so they didn’t care. It just shows how wild the beach has become it’s not a beach for humans anymore.”

The current state of Southport beach has become increasingly contentious in recent years with the onset of accretion. This involves continued natural dumping of sediment over the former golden sands meaning the area appears more marsh like and muddy.