Letter to the editor: My wife and I were working in the garden with our chickens in a fenced-in run about 10ft away.

Suddenly, a fox jumped over our neighbour’s fence and grabbed one of our hens. I ran up and threw some loppers at it and he dropped the hen and jumped back over our neighbour’s fence and stood there looking at me.

He was only 6ft away but knew I could not reach him. After a few seconds he just backed off about 20ft.

I checked the hen, found her very badly injured and quickly dispatched her. I then put the rest of the hens back in the pens where they were safe.

The fox jumped back into the run four times and had to be chased off from what he thought was a meal waiting for him.

This was in the middle of the day with humans very close. It was obvious that he had no fear of us.

This was in the middle of Sidcup where foxes are so common that it is usual for me to see three or four most evenings when I take my dog out.

Foxes are showing less fear of humans as time goes on.

What we can do to alleviate this problem I have no idea.

CHRIS SMITH, Sidcup