Fox climbs up to first floor balcony in Notting Hill... for a cat nap

While it is becoming increasingly difficult for Londoners to climb the property ladder, there was no such problem for one fox in Notting Hill.

The creature scaled a townhouse in Elgin Crescent, where neighbours include Ruby Wax, and spent most of yesterday afternoon lounging on a window sill on the second floor.

It was spotted and photographed by author and editor Rachel Johnson, the sister of Mayor Boris, who lives nearby.

She said: “It must have got up via the scaffolding on the house next door. People were coming out of their houses with telephoto cameras - but luckily no-one decided to shoot it! It was rather a sitting duck there on the ledge.

“There are lots of them in the neighbourhood, always in the gardens - they seem to own the place. But when I saw this one it was hard to feel the same sense of rage.”