Animal welfare charity the RSPCA has been sharing heart-warming tales of its best rescues in 2023, including one that took place in Hertfordshire, when a fox had to be rescued after being spotted tightly entwined in netting in a garden.

RSPCA animal rescue officer Jane Folly, who helped free the fox, said: "This poor chap had got himself completely entwined in some garden netting. His struggles to free himself had only tightened the netting around him. I needed to free him as soon as possible, as he had been trapped there all night.

“After donning a pair of strong gloves to protect me from potential bites, I used my grasper to gently hold him in position. It was then safe for me - and him - to start cutting the netting away.

"It wasn’t long before I was able to loosen, then remove the netting.

"I checked him over and, as he was thankfully uninjured, I released him and he quickly dashed off.

"This entanglement incident thankfully had a happy ending, but it could have been very different."