An unusual stowaway was discovered by railway staff at London Euston station last Monday, 16 October when a fox was found hiding in a cubicle in the gents toilets.
The wily fox had managed to sneak undetected into the station toilets overnight, but shortly before 8.30 am, it was found curled up into a tight ball, apparently unconcerned as to how it was going to get out.
At first, Network Rail teams tried to coax the scared creature out of the toilets where it had taken fright during the Monday morning rush hour yesterday.
Station staff then contacted the RSCPA, which sent one of its teams to rescue the animal. Soon after 10.00 the fox was safely removed after its 90-minute ordeal and taken from the station to be checked over by a vet.
After the RSPCA had removed the fox, a station crew cleaned the toilets and reopened the cubicles to public use again shortly afterwards.
Animals have caused disruption at Euston station before, as in 2021 a cat disrupted train services when it climbed onto the top of an Avanti West Coast train that was due to travel to Manchester and prevented its departure. That incident found its way around the world, and even made headlines as far away as India, Australia and South America.
Gareth Parry, Network Rail station manager at London Euston, said: “The Monday morning peak period often has something which can outfox our teams but an actual fox in the toilets is a new one for me as station manager.
“Our priority was to make sure that as well as the fox being okay, that it didnt try to lash out in fear at any of our staff or members of the public. Thankfully the RSPCA were able to safely get it into an animal carrier and taken away for a check-up.”
