Rare but not unprecedented: Britain's worst fox attacks

The fox attack on a one-month-old baby is not the first such incident. Here are details of some other attacks on humans:

:: In June 2010 nine-month-old twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis were savaged by a fox in their cots after it crept into their home in Hackney, east London.

Their parents dialled 999 after finding Isabella with deep cuts to her arm and Lola's face covered in blood.

Both girls were taken to the Royal London Hospital where they were given antibiotics and underwent surgery.

The family underwent counselling to help them come to terms with the traumatic attack.

The case sparked a national outcry as some questioned the couple's story amid fears of a backlash against urban foxes.

:: Later the same month toddler Jake Jermy was taken to hospital after reports he had been attacked by a fox while attending a party at a school in Brighton, East Sussex.

It was understood the three-year-old was bitten on the arm after he stroked the tail of the animal, which was sticking out from under a temporary building and it then turned on him.

:: In September 2003 four-year-old Jessica Brown was also bitten on the arm when a fox crept into her upstairs bedroom in Tufnell Park, north London, while she was sleeping.

:: In July 2002 Peter Day told of how a fox attacked his baby son Louis at his home in Dartford, Kent.

The 14-week-old suffered four puncture wounds on his head and had to be kept in hospital overnight.

Mr Day said: "I came into the living room and there was a fox sitting there beside my wife. He had already done the damage to Louis.

"I picked him up and chased the fox out of the house and all the way up the garden."