A GIRL has been left too scared to go to bed after being attacked in her bed by a fox.

Ten-year-old Chelsea Dean refuses to use sleep in her room in Downham Way, Downham, and has been on antibiotics and painkillers since the attack.

Her mother thinks the fox bit her left leg because she kicked out at it in her sleep.

It attacked the Burnt Ash Primary School pupil by biting her left foot.

Mother Kelly-Louise Ismail said: "When she kicked out she felt fur and saw these beady eyes. She rolled herself into a little ball and then it attacked her.

"Chelsea came running into my room crying saying she had been attacked by a fox. I said you must have been dreaming'."

She added: "Then I saw she was covered in blood and it was at the foot of my bed.

"She did not need any stitches but you can see the puncture marks of the fox's teeth."

The incident at around 4am on September 7, was not the first time Miss Ismail's home had been visited by a fox.

Her four-year-old daughter Kaylee woke up crying a few months ago saying a fox had licked her feet.

But the 29-year-old did not believe her daughter because she did not see the animal herself.

The family think the fox got in through a cat flap in their kitchen, which was not in use because their pet had died a few weeks ago.

It has now been boarded up but Miss Ismail thinks it will take time for her Chelsea to recover.

She said: "I am upset it has entered my home and attacked my child. I want to warn others because this is going to be the beginning of a long process with night times now.

"God forbid anybody else should have to go through this."

The house backs on to a park and this is where Miss Ismail thinks the fox came from.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "It is very unusual to have foxes coming in. People should make sure there is no food left out to attract them into houses."

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