There's a hole lot of hedgehog!

Angela Freeman, 28, of Mountfields, Hollingdean, Brighton, has been suffering sleepless nights ever since Saturday when the hedgehog became trapped in a wall cavity.

Its rustling and scratching has kept family members up all through the night, and Angela's daughter Kirstin, eight, is scared it will break through the wall while she is asleep.

Experts from Brighton and Hove Council have visited the property to open an air vent on the outside wall in the hope of freeing the animal.

But Angela has been advised that only bait and patience will succeed in evacuating the hedgehog from its cosy hiding place.

Angela said: "I have been told that it may be looking for somewhere to hibernate, but it is awful hearing it scratching every night.

"It must have climbed through a hole where the pipes come through and dug its way through the fibreglass in the cavity wall."

Angela is now hoping to entice her unwanted guest with bait. She has left cat food by a gap in the wall in the bathroom and cereal in the cavity in the outside wall.

Angela said: "I can't just leave it in the wall as I do not know whether it would live or die.

"I hate the thought of an animal being trapped in that tiny hole.

"I am going to set the alarm for 4am and try to catch it then, as it seems to be most active in the early hours.

"I am starting to think of the hedgehog as a resident, but I don't like the thought of it in the house and am worried about it carrying fleas and disease.

"I feel that I can't rest until I know for certain that the hedgehog is out."

Aspokesman for Brighton and Hove Council said: "Our contractors visited the property and removed airbricks in the hope that the hedgehog will find its way out.

"Our animal welfare officer has recommended putting food down and has put a powder down to help us see if there are tracks which indicate escape."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.