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Tuesday 17 Oct 2023

Loo-dicrous scenes: wayward fox rescued from Euston station toilet

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North West & Central

Railway staff found an unusual stowaway yesterday at Euston station – a fox hiding inside the gents loos!

Network Rail teams tried coaxing out the scared creature which had taken fright next to the toilet during Monday morning rush hour yesterday (16 October).

It had obviously been a big weekend for the wily fox who’d managed to sneak into the station toilets undetected overnight.

But shortly before 8.30am, it was found curled up into a tight ball, seemingly without having a cunning enough plan on how it was going to get out.

So station staff promptly called the RSCPA which sent one of its team to the rescue of a 'not so fantastic Mr Fox'.

Gareth Parry, Network Rail station manager at London Euston, said: “The Monday morning peak period often has something which can outfox our teams – but an actual fox in the toilets is a new one for me as station manager.

“Our priority was to make sure that as well as the fox being okay, that it didn’t try to lash out in fear at any of our staff or members of the public. Thankfully the RSPCA were able to safely get it into an animal carrier and taken away for a check up.”

The fox was safely removed from the loo just before 10am and taken from the station to be checked over by a vet after its 90-minute ordeal.

Meanwhile the toilets were cleaned and the cubicle was usable again to the public shortly afterwards.

It’s not the first time animals have caused disruption at Euston station – back in 2021 a cat sat itself on top of an Avanti West Coast train preventing it from travelling to Manchester.

• Read more: Cat avoids train surfing hitch hike from London Euston to Manchester

That story made headlines around the world, as far away as India, Australia and South America.