I have every sympathy for Mr and Mrs Porteous, who were "held captive in their home" by a "vicious fox" (Couple take refuge from 'vicious fox', Worcester News, August 7th).

It was obviously a very frightening experience for them and I am pleased they suffered no physical harm.

It is, however, important to get this story into perspective. Such incidents are extremely rare and foxes are overwhelmingly the victims of humans, rather than it being the other way around.

Tens of thousands of foxes are killed and injured by humans and human activity every year and it is highly likely that the injuries which drove this desperate fox to be "growling" and "aggressive" on the couple's doorstep had been caused by a car driven by a human.

Peter Talbot

Worcester