Badger sett free after falling in Amber Hill swimming pool

The RSPCA were called to the incident after the critter fell 5ft into the pool base, which was in the early stages of construction.

RSPCA inspector Becky Harper attended the scene to help capture the badger and sett him free.

She said: “This poor badger had got himself into deep trouble.

“It had been raining and the weather had been very wet so the poor badger was rather bedraggled and shivering.

“He was cowering in the corner and, although uninjured, was clearly very distressed as he couldn’t get himself out. Who knows how long he’d been trapped down there?”

Insp Harper initially tried to capture the badger using a crate but said he was ‘very reluctant to come near it’ so, with the animal displaying no obvious injuries, she decided ‘the best and least stressful option for him was to help him clamber out himself’.

“We gathered up a number of wooden pallets and built a pile leading up to ground-level so the badger could climb up and escape himself,” she said.

Following the incident the RSPCA has urged any homeowners with swimming pools or ponds to ‘build a little ramp, slope the edges or use stones as steps to allow any wildlife which should fall into the water - or empty hole - to climb out’.

Anyone who wants to report an injured, trapped or distressed wild animal can call the RSPCA’s 24-hour emergency line on 0300 1234 999.