This adorable young fox cub made a not exactly clean escape from a spot of bother when he was hauled from a building site caked in mud.

The four-month-old fox was rescued from an urban building site near London's Canary Wharf, where he had been spotted in a deep muddy hole with no chance of escape.

And far from being just having muddy paws or a light covering of dust, the hapless animal was completely covered in a thick layer of dried sludge from head to foot.

However, after being saved by builders on the London site and taken to South Essex Wildlife Hospital in Essex, the fox received some food, water, and most importantly, a nice long scrub down.

He has not been christened 'Muddsey' by staff at the wildlife hospital as a tribute to the condition in which he was found.

Su Schwar who runs the hospital said 'it would certainly have had a pretty awful death if it hadn't been found, it was very cold and in shock but is fine now.

'We felt very sorry for him because he was completely caked and was absolutely petrified.

'The builders were doing some ground work on the site and there were a couple of holes left open.

'None of us knew how long he had been down that hole - it could have been all weekend.'
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