FOXES are preying on family pets during brazen daylight raids in Worcester as fears grow a baby could be next.

The bold foxes have targeted several homes in the city’s Blanquettes estate and residents fear the animals are betting bolder as they lose their fear of people.

Families affected have urged well-meaning neighbours to stop feeding them and have warned people to secure rabbit and guinea pig hutches.

The foxes have already taken guinea pigs and chickens. They even took a boot from inside a woman's conservatory and have made off with swimming goggles, flip-flops and gardening gloves.

Mother-of-two Laura Maddock has had four guinea pigs taken by foxes from the garden of her home in Addison Road, Worcester.

Guinea pigs Rosie and Honey were taken three weeks ago from their hutch inside a Wendy house. Six months ago foxes took their two guinea pigs, also called Rosie and Honey, by digging under their run.

The raids were carried out in the middle of the day. She says she will not have any more guinea pigs after her daughter Ellie, aged six, was left feeling ‘sad’ by what happened.

Emma James of Blanquettes Avenue had one of the family guinea pigs – Rhino – taken last Monday. Mrs James said they arrived home to find the hutch door in their back garden open and scratch marks on the wood.

Her daughter, Lauren, 12, of Perdiswell Primary School, said she had been upset by the loss of her guinea pig.

Mrs James said: “It doesn’t seem right that they’re so brazen. They’re not bothered by humans at all.”

Mrs James urged her neighbours to stop feeding the foxes because she believes it is encouraging the animals to venture nearer their homes.

Their remaining guinea pig, Conrad, survived by hiding in a corner of the hutch but is still nervous after the attack.

The garden is surrounded by walls, fences and vegetation but the family fears the foxes have grown so bold this no longer acts as a deterrent.

Ian and Fiona Thomas, both 64, have lived at their home in Blanquettes Avenue for 25 years and say the foxes are certainly getting bolder and more numerous. Mrs Thomas said a fox took one of her boots from inside their conservatory. She later found it in a neighbour’s garden. They have also found what they believe is a den at the bottom of their garden.

Mrs Thomas said: “Imagine if you had a tiny baby and put it outside in the garden in a pram. I think you might be a little bit worried.

"They were so shy when we first saw them and it was usually at night time. These ones are coming out in day time."

Mr Thomas said: “The problem has got a lot worse in the last four to five years. They run up Blanquettes Avenue. They're not bothered at all."

The foxes he has seen have all been in good condition.

Sarah Khan of Blanquettes Avenue has taken extreme measures to protect her beloved bunnies, placing her large hutch inside a custom-built 'aviary', double-layered with tight chicken wire and block paved all the way around the perimeter to prevent foxes getting in.

She also says her two dogs patrol the garden, keeping the rabbits safe.

However, despite all he precautions she heard her ‘on edge’ rabbits thumping their feet to warn of danger on Monday morning.

Mrs Khan said: “I saw the fox jump up onto a neighbour’s roof. He sat there like a cat.

"I never want to come down here and find half a rabbit. That would be devastating."

Mrs Khan says she does not want the foxes killed but hopes it might be possible to relocate them to the countryside.

She believes it was fox cubs that may have taken flip flops and swimming goggles from their garden.