A YOUNG girl had a brush with the wild when she woke up to find a fox nibbling her toes.

Nine-year-old Ellie Custy awoke to find the animal at the end of her bed at her home in Gloucester Avenue, Sidcup.

Ellie, who is a Year Four pupil at Dulverton Primary School, in New Eltham, says she was left stunned by the fox’s fascination with her feet.

She said: “I had my feet out of the bed and I felt three small bites. It made me jump and I woke up.

“There was a fox there but I only saw a quick glimpse. I didn’t scream and I tried to be nice to it. It was just there in my bedroom.” Mum Hillary, who is married to Johnathan and has son Joe, 10, said: “She woke up shouting and came running into me. I asked what was the matter and she said there was a fox in her room nibbling her toes. I told her it was a dream and gave her a cuddle.” Mrs Custy continued: “I got up and looked, a bit gingerly I have to admit, but nothing was there. I told my daughter it wasn’t real. But she’d gone really white by this stage.

“When I got up again to shut the door, the fox was on the landing. I was a bit shaken because you don’t expect to see that.” The family shooed the animal down the stairs and it escaped out of an open conservatory window, where it had come in.

Mrs Custy said: “There were footprints in the hall and the conservatory. I just keep thinking if it had been me that saw it when I woke up, I probably would have died on the spot.” An RSPCA spokesman said: “It is very unusual. Normally they won’t approach humans. To get inside a house is even rarer. It is extremely unlikely they would be dangerous in this situation. Normally they turn on their heels and run.”