A regional daily editor has defended his decision to use a front page photo of a deer which had frozen to death in a lake.

Peter Barron, from The Northern Echo, has blogged about why he chose to publish pictures of eight deer which had frozen to death in a lake at Whitworth Hall, near Spennymoor.

He defended his reasons for printing the photos after facing criticism from some readers, one of whom said the scene would be ‘irreversibly etched in the minds of thousands of children’.

But in his blog, Peter said he had chosen to use the photos, one on the front page – pictured above – and the rest as a double page spread, only after careful consideration, because of the importance of highlighting what had happened.

He writes: “We’d sent our photographer to the country park after concerned families contacted us on Sunday morning.

“They’d gone with their children to feed ‘Santa’s reindeer’ in the run-up to Christmas, only to find the distressing scene caused by the big freeze.

“In a letter published in today’s paper, Adrian Hetherington, of Staindrop, questions the decision, saying: ‘Thanks to your tactless journalism, the scene will now be well and truly irreversibly etched in the minds of thousands of children across the North-East…’

“The pictures certainly weren’t used without careful consideration. I was aware that some readers, especially younger ones, might be distressed by them.

“But those concerns were outweighed by the need to highlight what was happening at Whitworth Hall. Sometimes, newspapers have to shock to initiate action.

“Since the pictures were published, the RSPCA and the park’s owners have been working to try to stop further deaths among the deer herd. In my view, that justifies our coverage.”

Peter also writes about another decision he made this week to use a photo of a 16-year-old girl who was badly disfigured after surviving horrific burn injuries, in order to promote a Christmas safety message on using candles.