TWO nurses helped free a vixen which had been caught in a deadly trap.

Jenny Stone, a veterinary nurse at the Tiptree Veterinary Centre, was driving along West End Road in Tiptree when she saw the vixen at the side of the road.

She thought it was dead, but then noticed the vixen trying to move its head.

She said: "I called up Yvonne Jones who is practice manager at the surgery and said I couldn't just leave her there.

"The RSPCA said they would be three hours, but she would have been dead by then.

"I went to the surgery to pick up the ambulance, some sedation and a muzzle and went back with Yvonne to get her out safely."

Braintree and Witham Times:

It was not clear at first what was trapping the female fox, but on closer inspection it was discovered she had been trapped in a snare.

Jenny said: "She was wrapped in wire, a kind man gave us some wire cutters and a saw, but the wire was caught all around her neck.

"We sedated her and took her back to the surgery, and realised it was a snare - but not an illegal one."

Thankfully the vixen was in good condition and did not require any treatment besides antibiotics.

It was discovered she had not long given birth and the vets wanted to reunite her with her cubs.

Braintree and Witham Times:

Jenny said: "She clearly had cubs somewhere as she was full of milk.

"We wanted to get her back to her babies so we gave her some antibiotics and took her back to where we found her.

"It took her a while to come round, but then she just trotted off."

The incident happened on Monday.