Residents took to the 'Flinders Community & Residents' Facebook page to share photographs (see right), videos and experiences of the incident which happened around 4.20pm.

Among them was Whittaker Street's Chris Frendo.

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Mr Frendo said he was in the back garage working, and "heard this big crash through the fence".

"I thought someone's jumped over my fence, but it was a deer that's ploughed straight through my fence and put a hole through my gate," he told the Mercury.

"It's an aluminium gate... It's just ploughed through it. It happened so quickly, it was probably in my yard for maybe two minutes. I'll see if I can fix it [the gate] up myself.

"It's definitely not something you expect to happen."

Mr Frendo said the deer did a lap of the yard, "then shot towards the back fence and over the train lines behind my house".

Lakewood Boulevard's Janelle Rooney had just arrived home at the time.

"As I went to get out of the car, I looked up the street and saw what I thought was a big dog running down the middle of the road," she said.

"As it got closer I realised what it was and how big it was, so I quickly grabbed my phone so I could catch it on film.

"It did look like it was quite scared, and didn't know where to go. The poor thing just had no idea."

Mr Frendo said he suspected the deer had trekked from farmlands around Dunmore and via Shell Cove, before being further startled by vehicles as it ran through Flinders streets.

A Shellharbour City Council spokesperson said they hadn't received any direct reports regarding the incident, and such matters should instead be referred to Local Land Services.

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