This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

The RSPCA has been called out to rescue a flustered fox – which had been "outfoxed" by a floorboard.

Builders at the University of Hertfordshire spotted the trapped animal's head poking out of a hole in the floor while renovating an office this week.

It is thought the fox was trying to wriggle through the section of flooring when it became stuck fast at the university's de Havilland campus in Hatfield.

RSPCA animal welfare officer Kate Wright, who freed the fox, said: "I have to admit that when I arrived I was faced with a very odd sight.

"Here was this fox's head poking out of a floor and he was so jammed he couldn't move, and I just had these big eyes staring at me.

"I actually think he had quite an embarrassed expression on his face."

After builders used crowbars to pull up the flooring panel, the animal was pulled free, transferred to a cage and released at a safe location nearby.

Wright added: "I had to get to the scruff of his neck while trying to avoid wires and eventually after a lot of pushing, I managed to pop one ear through and then finally the next and he was free.

"He was a beautiful fox, and although his neck was slightly swollen from being stuck, I think it was his pride that was hurt more than anything as he had been outfoxed by a hole."