A woman is calling for foxes to be culled after they twice gnawed through the brake lines on her car. Erica Kirkpatrick, 54, from Ardrossan Gardens in Worcester Park wrote to the Epsom Guardian about the incidents following the debate about urban foxes spaked by the killing of a kitten in West Ewell.

Back in July Mrs Kirkpatrick came out one morning to find a puddle of brake fluid under her car and her brake lines severed.

She said: “We called the RAC and he said they had seen it before and that they were teeth marks and that it was a fox.

“I couldn’t relax then not knowing whether they were going to do it again.”

And a few weeks later she once again spotted the tell-tale teeth marks and decided the only way to ensure her safety was to fit metal brake lines.

Foxes are known to be attracted to rubber items and it is not uncommon for them to bite car brake lines which can cause serious accidents as well as the cost of replacing the damaged parts. Mrs Kirkpatrick added: “It’s never knowing if you are going to have a car that’s safe or not.

“People talk about persecuting foxes, but I feel a bit persecuted myself.

“I think there are too many.

“Just because you want a cull doesn’t mean to say you don’t love animals.”

A poll carried out at the epsomguardian.co.uk this week showed that a majority of people taking part, 54 percent, are in favour of a cull, with 44 per cent against. But Rosy Jones, speaking on the epsomguardian.co.uk, believes a fox cull would not work.

She said: “Even if you cull a family group of foxes, another fox or group of foxes will move into the vacant territory, so you'll be no better off.

“Utter rubbish to say they'd attack children, though a sickly kitten might be a victim, though the fox would probably be trying to 'play' with it, rather than attack it.

“Foxes are beautiful and intelligent creatures and we should think it a privilege to be close to them.”

However David More, a vet from the Corner surgery in Sutton, is in favour of controlling the number of foxes said: “There are foxes, and there are foxes.

“Most live happily cheek by jowl with people.

“A friend of mine who would often leave his patio doors open all day and night in the warmer summer months, found a fox sleeping quite contentedly behind his couch.

When found the fox merely lifted its head to look at him and calmly lay back down to sleep.

“Some foxes however are not quite so amenable.

“Some are starting to attack cats, not play, and being the intelligent creatures they are these fox’s offspring are likely to pick up the habit too.”

Have your say on this issue at epsomguardian.co.uk