The vicious fox attack on four-week-old Denny Dolan in Downham saw News Shopper put forward proposals for a fox cull. Reporter RUBY GUYATT asks shoppers whether this is the answer.

FOXES have been responsible for countless attacks across the News Shopper patch in recent years.

In 2006 we reported on another incident in Downham where a 10-year-old girl was bitten on the leg in her bed.

In 2010 a 49-year-old woman was bitten on her hand outside her front door in Catford Last year there were several reported incidents including a man ‘mugged by a fox for his garlic bread’ in Orpington.

A Sidcup woman suffered a similar attack when a fox went after her fruit and veg.

And one particularly 'cocky' fox was mown down by a car in Blackfen shortly after attacking a teenage couple.

News Shopper now says it is time for the foxes in our towns to be trapped and humanely killed so their existence on our streets is a thing of the past.

We put forward that urban fox hunting is the best solution to this menacing problem.

What shoppers think:

Samantha Baskar, 34, of Raeburn Avenue in Crayford said: “There are people in the papers saying that their kids have been attacked by foxes, but I think it might really be their pets. I’ve fed the foxes in my garden for nine years. They’re timid animals and run off when you approach them.”

Carol Poulter, 68, of Lower Station Road in Crayford said: “I don’t think a cull would solve the problem because you’d get rid of one and it would just be replaced by another. People need to stop feeding them and leaving their bins so accessible.”

Kenneth Robinson, 75, of Long Lane in Bexleyheath said: “We get foxes in the garden but the worst thing they do is mess on my vegetable patch. If I had small children then I’d be very careful to keep windows and doors closed. Maybe there should be a cull in other areas, but it’s not needed here.”

James Hogg, 19, of Valley Road in Crayford said: “I haven’t had a problem with foxes but out neighbours have had them in their gardens. We wouldn’t need a cull if people stopped feeding them. Towns have become too enticing for them.”

Mark Allen, 40, of Evelyn Street in Deptford said: “A cull is needed. I was driving through Honor Oak one night and saw loads of foxes scurrying around the streets. They should be cut back.”

Paul Goodson, 25, Court Road in Mottingham said: “There were two foxes in my garden last night. They attacked my three cats, who are now terrified. They are wild animals and there are too many of them in towns.”