‘We have seen some strange things in Parliament since 2017, but this tops it’

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

A fox caused chaos after wandering into parliament on Thursday evening. The creature was spotted by staff climbing a staircase and making its way into Portcullis House, evading police as it went.

A message on Conservative MP Julia Lopez’s Twitter account read: “Team Lopez: just leaving Westminster office for the night and see a fox climbing escalator into Portcullis House! We have seen some strange things in Parliament since 2017, but this tops it!”

Labour MP Kerry McCarthy later tweeted a photo of what appeared to be fox droppings outside her office, signalling that the fox was now two floors up, along with the hashtag “#Foxontherun”.

Police, reportedly wearing large gloves, appeared to catch up with the fox as it scarpered all the way up to the fourth floor, eventually managing to get it into a box.

Footage shared on Twitter later showed the fox being removed from the building on a wooden panel covered by a blue box.

The animal was then freed nearby. Dazed and confused, it managed to avoid wandering into oncoming traffic and scurried away into the night, bringing to an end a very British incident.