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There are now more accidents involving deer than ever before – and the problem is getting worse. Gary Ennes had only one thing on his mind as he drove his Ford Fiesta home one evening along the A1060 in Essex, with his workmates following 100 yards behind. It was early December and after a long day at work Gary was thinking ahead to a family party planned for Christmas Day. Sadly, he never made it. “The next thing I remember was waking up; I thought it was the day after,” says the 60-year-old electrician, “except that I was in a strange bed…” In fact he was in intensive care and just regaining consciousness after hovering on the brink of death for five weeks. “I woke up in a different year,” Gary says. To the horror of his workmates, a deer bounded across the road and cannoned through Gary’s windscreen before crashing straight out again through the rear window. He was left fighting for his life with nine skull fractures, a smashed jawbone, a brain haemorrhage, a broken wrist and thumb. It took three years of painful operations and rehabilitation before he returned to work. A freak, one-off accident? Sadly not. Gary’s experience is far from unusual and, as figures obtained by Telegraph Motoring show, it’s becoming an increasingly common scenario. Experts we consulted estimate that accidents involving deer on British roads are on the rise by up to six per cent a year. We shouldn’t be surprised; traffic levels are rising and there are more deer than at any time in the past 1,000 years thanks to mild winters and more woodland cover. An average of 15 to 20 motorists die each year after encounters similar to Gary’s. A further 1,100 are seriously injured and some 700 sustain less serious injuries. More