Fox keeps sucking brake fluid from man's van

A fox has cost a driver £2,500 to have his van’s brakes fixed repeatedly. Jan Bryce, of Borough Green in Kent was baffled when he tried to stop at the end of his road and his brakes would not work back in December. When he inspected his vehicle he found his brake fluid had been sucked out by a fox.

Just a month later the same thing happened and Mr Bryce contacted a pest controller, who informed him that foxes like the taste of brake fluid. And now the mischievous animal has struck again. Mr Bryce says the fox has chewed on his brakes a further three times, in August and September. Mr Bryce is in despair.

He has tried spraying his van with citrus air freshener and parking it in a different place every day to outwit his furry nemesis. “I am now forced to park my vehicle away from the estate I live,” he said. “You may think these animals are lovely to have in your garden but if they chew your brakes you will think again, especially if it happens to you five times.”

And now he is appealing for anyone who may know a way to put foxes off gnawing at his vehicle to come forward. “Does anyone know of anything I could do to stop the foxes chewing brake pipes?” he said. “I know they like to play with rubber and also brake fluid tastes sweet to them. What do they not like that I could paint to the underside of my vehicle and on the rubber pipes?”