A FOX was rescued after it became stuck in a 12 feet-deep storm tank in Cradley Heath.

Severn Trent workers at the treatment works off Congreaves Road, came across the frightened fox on Thursday (October 4).

They alerted the RSPCA, who sent animal collection officer Shaun Howden to the scene.

He spent 20 minutes trying to restrain the mammal using specialist grasping equipment but he was the first to admit he was getting outfoxed.

Shaun said: “It was giving me the run around that is for sure - and when I went to try restraining it with a grasping pole it started chewing it.

“Eventually the fox went into a corner and made a hole in the slurry so I managed to corner him and got him safely in a cage.

“I then got some rope and wrapped it around the cage and he was then hoisted up by the Severn Trent workers who were helping me.”

The fox was uninjured and was immediately released back into the wild.

People who encounter a wild animal in trouble should call the RSPCA's 24-hour emergency line on 0300 1234 999.