Badger caused £5k of damage in 'Goldilocks' style raid of cottage

A shocked homeowner found a cheeky badger had set up camp in their bedroom - after trashing the house.

The female badger had fallen from a wall into a courtyard area at the back of the house in the Ryde in the Isle of Wight.

She chewed through the back door to get inside before raiding the kitchen cupboards and tried to climb up the bedroom fireplace which bought a lot of ash down.

After making such a mess the homeowner thought they'd been burgled, the cheeky animal then headed upstairs and was found in a bin in the bedroom, rescuers said.

The homeowner, who was away for a couple of days, discovered the damage when they returned on Wednesday and called the Badger Trust Isle of Wight.

Rescuer Graham Lee said: "She was sleeping in an upturned bin when I went into the bedroom, I watched her walk around the room to make sure she wasn't injured and then caught her and put her into our badger cage and gave her a check over.

"She was a nice healthy weight so I asked a neighbour to help me carry the cage down the stairs and out onto the pavement where I gave her another check over and gave her a few minutes to get her bearings and then opened the cage.

"She trotted off up the pavement without a care in the world.

"We usually get calls about badgers living underneath houses, so it's very rare to get a call about a badger actually inside the house.

"What could be better than spending Valentine's evening in the bedroom with a badger?"