A TERRIFIED fox cub had to be rescued in the middle of the night after becoming entangled in some garden netting.

The cub started mewling and howling in the early hours of Saturday.

Trevor Weeks of the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service received a call at 12.40am and rushed to the scene in a garden of a house in Stone Cross near Pevensey.

Upon arriving he discovered the animal was just three weeks old.

It had become entangled in camouflage netting attached to an old children’s play house.

He said: “I cut around the fox cub first of all and then lifted the cub to a blanket on the floor where I can see and control it better.

“I was then able to start assessing the cub and see how the netting was attached.”

He was then able to remove the remaining netting by cutting it away using bandage scissors.

He added: “I was really pleased that the netting was not tightly attached so their was no chance of ligature wounds or pressure necrosis developing.”

As he carried out a health check on the cub, residents pointed out a hole under some nearby decking.

They said they believed that was where the cub had been born.

Trevor said: “I had let the cub run around inside a large metal cage to ensure it was using all its legs properly and wasn’t disorientated and then moved the cage closer to the den entrance.

“I encouraged the cub to leave the cage and he quickly ran off and into the den.”

The East Sussex WRAS was established as a voluntary group in 1996, although some of its staff have been rescuing animals since 1985.

It was set up in order to provide a front-line rescue service for wildlife casualties.

The organisation receives some 3,000 calls a year. To donate go to http://wildlifeambulance.org/donate/how-to-donate/