Reindeer A11: Major road shut in Suffolk while police try to catch a 'large number' of reindeer running around

A major road in Suffolk was closed in both directions yesterday (Sunday 3 December) as a “large number” of reindeer were running around. Police were called to the scene on the A11 near Barton Mills at around 3.20pm where they then tried to catch the “reindeer”.

On the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, a user said she was stuck “for over an hour” on the carriageway while the reindeer were trying to be caught. Matt Liburn asked National Highways on X: “Can at least one lane be opened?”. To which National Highways replied: “Unfortunately not when there are live animals running around. This is for your own safety.”

Other social media users were quick to ridicule the situation. A user named Blue Rebel posted “Santa’s reindeer go out” while another said “could be the most random closure reason in history”. Another user wrote: “Are you serious? Someone tell it it’s three weeks early”. 

The reindeer eventually left the road at around 5.20pm and it was reopened shortly afterwards, officials said.

In an update on X, formerly Twitter, National Highways East confirmed police closed the A11 "in both directions between A1134 and A1101". There are not thought to be any wild reindeer in England and it is unclear where the animals came from.