A wildlife charity in Leatherhead is pleading with people to only use humane rat traps.

Wildlife Aid Foundation says it had to put a five week old fox cub to sleep last week after it its snout was crushed in a rat trap device.

The charity says the trap used was a clamping one with an “aggressive design” which makes escape virtually impossible.

The force of the trap snapped the fragile bones of the cub’s upper jaw and locked in place forcing vets to put the cub to sleep.

WAF says it is devastated that any animal could be subjected to such a cruel and barbaric method of ‘pest control’.

It’s urging people to only use humane forms of pest control and to also pass the message on.