Brian the badger hitches a lift under a car from Hertfordshire to London

A woman who had driven from Ware in Hertfordshire to Southgate in north London discovered she had given lift to a badger when she heard noises coming from underneath her car.

The badger, named Brian by the firefighters who freed him, had climbed under the Audi A1 car when it was parked in Ware. The driver only found out she had a passenger when she arrived in Southgate in noth London and heard scratching noises as she opened the boot of her car.

When she looked under the car she spotted a paw, and called the London Fire Brigade.

Firefighters from Edmonton used airbags to lift the car and free the badger. Brian was unscathed by his ordeal but was taken away in a crate by an RSPCA inspector to be checked over by a vet.

For more advice about injured wild animals visit the RSPCA’s website.