They say gentlemen prefer blondes but Stuart Armiger may beg to differ.

The auction worker was woken by an uninvited guest in his bed – an Albino ferret.

To make matters worse the white-furred fiend thanked him for his hospitality by sinking his teeth into his nose.

Mr Armiger went to bed as usual on Tuesday night but was woken at 4am after he felt something drop on to his bed.

At first he thought it might have been a rat but when he switched his light on he saw the ferret on the end of his bed staring back at him.

However, when they came face-to-face later on in the day, the ferret did not take so kindly to being stared at and drew blood when it bit Mr Armiger square on the nose.

Mr Armiger, 28, said: “I was in bed alone, or at least I thought I was, but then I was woken up by this thing dropping on to my bed.

“My bed is by the window, which was open about two inches just to let some air in, and the ferret must have climbed through that. I looked over and saw white fluff and when I switched the light on the ferret was just sitting there looking at me.”

Mr Armiger, who shares a basement flat with his twin sister Clare, in Buckingham Road, Brighton, said he did not know what to do with his new found friend and ended up chasing it round the flat before trying to coax it into a cardboard box in the kitchen with some grapes.

He said: “When I got into the kitchen I opened the fridge door and the ferret was very inquisitive and jumped straight into it. I enticed him into the box with some grapes but then he jumped out and started running around again.”

Miss Armiger stuck posters up in Buckingham Road, and yesterday afternoon, Mr Armiger received a call from the ferret’s owners, a Polish couple who live a short walk away in Dyke Road.

Mr Armiger said: “The damn thing bit my nose – sunk its teeth right in too. That will teach me to wake up a strange animal for a photo shoot.

“The woman who lost the ferret has called in response to the posters my sister and I put up. What a day.”