Neighbours describe hysterical screams after fox bit off four-week-old baby's finger as he slept

Surgeons later reattached finger in 'extremely difficult' three-hour operation

Child also suffered facial puncture wounds before mother intervened



The attack took place in suburban Bromley in South-East London

Neighbours say foxes have been a 'menace' in the area



The family have since moved out of the home, according to locals



Boris Johnson said more must be done 'to tackle problem of urban foxes'

Twin baby girls were mauled by a fox at their Hackney home in 2010

Today, their mother warned fox attacks will 'happen again and again'



Neighbours today described hearing screams coming from the home of a baby who was dragged from his cot by a fox before the animal tore his finger off.



The child was asleep in his cot when his mother, in the next room, heard a piercing scream then a heavy thud as the four-week-old boy was flung to the floor.



Local residents said the family had moved from the home in Bromley, Kent, following the attack on Wednesday and the house appeared empty today.



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The mother and baby were not at their house in Bromley, Kent, left, on Sunday - after a fox entered through their back door, right, that had been left open because it was broken and was awaiting repair



Council chiefs said the incident was 'very tragic but rare'.



When the baby's mother heard the screams from her son's room, she ran in to find his hand lodged 'halfway down the animal's throat'. She fought desperately to release him, repeatedly kicking the fox until it eventually let go

Surgeons later reattached the baby’s finger in an ‘extremely difficult’ but successful three-hour operation. ‘The baby is recovering well,’ said a source.

The child also suffered puncture wounds to the face in what is believed to be the worst attack of its kind in Britain.

The fox had crept into the house through an open back door, which was apparently awaiting repair by the council.

The horrific attack in suburban Bromley, South-East London, has revived the debate over culling urban foxes.



Neighbours said foxes have been a 'menace' in the area and are now worried about the safety of their own children.



Khadine Peters, 36, who lives next door to the house where the fox attack happened, said: 'I heard screams, but I didn't think anything of it.

'Then I saw an ambulance and wondered what was going on.

'They are a nice couple. They have three children: an older son and daughter plus a baby boy.

'It's so sad. I hope the baby is okay.'

Paula Wellington, 36, said: 'Foxes are menace around here.



Attack: The baby was rushed to St Thomas' Hospital in London by ambulance after the child's mother kicked the animal several times until it eventually let go

'They get very close to you and they are quite intimidating. My daughter is only three and I am worried for her safety.

'We get foxes in our garden all the time. My son recently saw a fox walking along the fence like a cat.

'I'm going to ask my housing association to make the fences higher so I feel safe in my own home.'

Another neighbour said the family moved out a couple of nights ago.



The attack has reopened the debate on how to deal with urban foxes.



Today, a spokesman for Lewisham Council said: 'If people understand what to do then that is the best way of keeping the foxes at bay.

'Things like how they dispose of their rubbish is really important, and bagging things up and not feeding the foxes.

'It is very tragic to hear about this attack, but in our experience it is very rare.

'Our procedure is to offer advice and trying to help people understand foxes will come through their area and what their natural habitat is.

'Obviously that doesn't take away from the terrible things that happen, but it is very rare for a fox to come into a house.

'We will continue to encourage people to realise that keeping gardens and streets free of litter and do all they can to keep that message at the forefront of peoples' minds."

London Mayor Boris Johnson supports a cull of urban foxes.



He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘My thoughts are with the baby boy and his family.

'Thankfully this sort of attack, though terrible, is rare, but we must do more to tackle the growing problem of urban foxes.



The four-week-old baby was attacked by the fox attack in suburban Bromley, South-East London, prompting fears about the numbers of urban foxes. In 2011 vet Keith Talbot killed a 26lb fox, pictured with Archie Wright, right, after it apparently killed a pet cat and is one of the biggest foxes ever trapped in Britain

‘They may appear cuddly and romantic but foxes are also a pest and a menace, particularly in our cities. This must serve as a wake-up call to London’s borough leaders, who are responsible for pest control.

'They must come together, study the data, try to understand why this is becoming such a problem and act quickly to sort it out.’

But Chris Packham, the natural history broadcaster, insisted: ‘If you want fewer foxes in towns, then don’t cull them, but stop getting people to throw food on the ground, and into bins, because that’s what’s helping their numbers rise,’ he said.

The baby was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital in London by ambulance. By the time it arrived, the baby’s severed finger had turned ‘blue and was cold’ and his mother was ‘hysterical’.

That night the baby was moved to the specialist Evelina Children’s Hospital, part of the St Thomas’ complex, where two plastic surgeons performed microsurgery.

A source said the operation to reconnect the child's finger had proved successful and that it had ‘returned to a pink colour’.

Another source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The boy is recovering well but his hand was pretty mangled.

‘If there is a message to come out of this, it’s that foxes are a major public health issue.

‘People should really be talking to the authorities about this – they need to be harangued about what should be done because this is another horrific fox attack.

‘People must know they have to close their back doors in case this sort of thing happens.’

In June 2010, twin baby girls were hospitalised after a savage fox attack at their home in Hackney, East London.

The two nine-month-olds, Isabella and Lola Koupparis, were mauled as they slept in a bedroom after the animal entered the house via a back door that had been left open in the hot weather. Both girls suffered serious injuries to their arms and partial facial injuries.



Today their mother Pauline said these attacks are not rare and 'will happen again and again'.



She said: 'We found out about the latest attack on Saturday night and didn't sleep well.



'We felt really sick and sad that it could happen again.

Surgery: Two plastic surgeons performed microsurgery on the child at specialist Evelina Children's Hospital, part of the St Thomas' complex

Problem: It is thought more than 10,000 foxes live close to humans in London, while 33,000 live in urban areas across Britain (file picture)

Action: Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'We must do more to tackle the growing problem of urban foxes'

'And it will happen again and again. It happened really quickly with us. We were in the house and heard it on the baby monitor, but it was too late.

'All anyone says is that it's very rare but it does happen all the time. I thought it would be better but it isn't.

'The baby's mother might be feeling guilt and thinking "why did it happen?"

'Whether you leave the door open for five minutes or 15 it doesn't matter, you can't live in a prison.

'She will be thinking "what could I have done differently?"'

Ms Koupparis said her girls, who are now three-and-a-half, are fine but Isabella has to go back to hospital once a year.

She said: 'When it happened they had to have a rabies injection, so after being wired up to stuff in hospital they then have to have that.

'Thankfully the baby who was attacked on Wednesday will never remember it, my girls don't.'

She said she received no help from her local council or MP following the attack, adding: 'We weren't given any help.

'We had a visit from the council and went to the local MP who said it was out of their jurisdiction.

'We didn't move in the end because we didn't get any help. It created so much controversy for us as a family. You can imagine what that was like when you have two children.'



Scotland Yard said police were alerted as a matter of routine and visited the mother at the hospital.

A spokesman said: ‘Police were called by staff at St Thomas’ to reports of a baby boy admitted after being attacked by a fox.’

Hospitalised: Twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis were hospitalised in 2010 after a savage fox attack at their home in Hackney, East London

Some experts believe there are now more than 10,000 foxes living close to humans in London. At the end of winter, when numbers are lowest, there are 258,000 adult foxes in Britain, of which 33,000 are in urban areas.

When Channel 4 conducted an online investigation into sightings in Bromley last year, one householder told them: ‘Fox in my bedroom! Middle of the day. He just sat and looked at me. No fear, not even surprised.’

And Joseph Gillinder found a fox in his hall just yards away from where his four-month-old daughter Violet was sleeping last October.

Mr Gillinder, 31, said: ‘We have a very small baby in our house and that makes it not just a small problem but one of utmost concern and worry. I dread to think what one could do to a small baby.’

The RSPCA said: ‘It is awful for the poor child involved but these cases are extremely rare.’

A London Ambulance spokesman said: ‘We were called at 3.50pm on Wednesday to an address in the Bromley area.

‘We sent an ambulance crew and a member of staff in a response car and a baby was treated and taken to hospital.'

Last November, an angler who had been night fishing woke up in his tent to find a fox with its jaws clamped round his face.



Married father-of-three Andrew Thomas, 41, was scarred for life after the incident, which only ended when he squeezed the fox’s snout to stop it breathing.

Chris Packham, the natural history broadcaster, said a cull would not offer a solution to rising urban fox numbers. He said people need to stop throwing food on the ground and into bins

In 2003, four-year-old Jessica Brown was attacked in her bed in Tufnell Park, North London.



The animal came in through the home’s back door and her parents, who were watching television downstairs, heard her scream as she was bitten on the arm.

In 2011, vet Keith Talbot trapped and killed a 26lb fox that measured almost four feet from nose to tail after it apparently devoured a pet cat.

