Londoners hire snipers to kill foxes in their gardens

They have been a problem in the countryside since time immemorial.

Since hunting with horses and hounds was outlawed, farmers and landowners have had to resort to guns.

But it’s not just rural folk who are taking a bullet to the heads of foxes nowadays – Londoners are staging a fightback too.

For £75 for the first fox and £50 for each subsequent one caught, they can hire a man called Phil (he won’t give his last name through fear of reprisals) and his .22-calibre rifle to kill the vermin that tip over our bins and (allegedly) crawl into our children’s beds at night.

With more foxes in London (10,000) than there are buses, his services are in great demand.

He told the New York Times that he has repeat customers because within four days of a fox leaving an area, another one has moved in.

It’s not helped by people leaving food out for the foxes, bins being left so that they can be tipped over and compost piles being left open.