Tidworth and Ludgershall's MP has been fined more than £100 after his dog "caused a stampede of 200 deer" in a London park.

In a statement on his website, Danny Kruger said he apologised "profusely" to the park rangers after the incident, which took place on March 20.

He was fined £120 at Westminster Magistrates Court, after he pleaded guilty to the charge of 'Causing or permitting an animal in charge of to chase / worry / injure another animal in Richmond Park... without written permission from the Secretary of State.'

Mr Kruger and his dog, Pebble

Mr Kruger and his dog, Pebble

Prosecutor Dominic Hockley said: “On March 20 this year, Danny Kruger’s white Jack Russell dog, Pebble, chased a large herd of fallow deer.

“It’s been said it only takes one pebble to start an avalanche. In this case it only took one Pebble to start a stampede.”

The court heard that Kruger had been on a long walk in the busy park with his wife and three children on the afternoon of March 20, when PC Samantha Riggs spotted his dog running across the road towards a herd of around 200 fallow deer.

Mr Hockley said the deer, many of which were pregnant, were left in a “panicked state”, while Pc Riggs called out for the owner, who was “at that point nowhere to be seen”, to bring the dog under control.

In footage filmed by a member of the public, Donald Milton, and the police officer’s body-worn camera, Kruger can be heard repeatedly shouting “Pebble” before putting his dog on a lead.

Conservative party MP Danny Kruger leaves Westminster Magistrates Court, London, where he admitted losing control of his 11-month-old Jack Russell in Richmond Park in March. The Tory MP has been fined after his puppy caused a stampede when he chased a

Conservative MP Danny Kruger leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court, London. Picture: PA

'It was wrong to let him chase them'

Mr Kruger's statement said: "What happened was at the end of a long family walk our 11-month-old Jack Russell, Pebble, got ahead of us without me noticing.

"He then came across a large herd of deer, and chased them round for the 45 seconds it took me to run up and put him on his lead. He didn't injure an animal and he came when I called him.

"But it was clearly wrong to let him chase them in the first place and I apologised profusely to the park rangers guarding the deer, to the police who (just my luck) happened to be sitting in their police car watching them too, to the other walkers and cyclists, and to the court today. Lesson learned."