Fox cub stuck in three-inch gap between house and garage

A fox cub has been rescued after it was found "screaming in pain" after becoming stuck in a three-inch gap between a house and a garage.

The RSPCA was called by a member of the public who heard the wild animal in distress in Ardently Road, Saltdean, near Brighton, East Sussex, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Officers from the animal charity attended and found the six-month cub wedged into the gap and called for assistance from the fire service who knocked down part of the garage wall to reach the young animal.

RSPCA inspector Marie Stevens said: "It was touch-and-go whether this little animal was going to survive this mishap, due to how severely he was wedged into that tiny space.

"He was completely pinned by his head, shoulders and hips. We don't know how he got himself so stuck, but there was no way he was getting out by himself.

"The team from Rottingdean fire and rescue did a fantastic job. They spent more than an hour bashing through the garage wall to reach him unscathed. They had to remove bits of concrete, as the fox couldn't be reached at all.

"I was so relieved when we got to him, and found him uninjured. We checked him over, and gave him some food and water, and were then able to release him back into the wild to live another day, seemingly unperturbed by the whole middle-of-the-night adventure."