A FAMILY of foxes has been making nocturnal visits to a town centre garden in Wellington, to the delight of residents.

They have been finding their way into the garden off High Street most nights for the past 12 months and now one resident, Phil Sydenham, has taken a series of photographs of them.

At first there was just one fox, but last summer saw three cubs regularly turning up through to November.

More recently, Mr Sydenham has seen two adult foxes and a young one together.

They make their way from the Scotts Lane area and jump the fence into the garden, where Mr Sydenham has started to put out food for them.

The foxes turn up after dark, any time after 7 pm in winter, and often stay for most of the night before they disappear again.

Urban foxes have become a more common sight in the past couple of decades as they successfully adapt to living alongside humans.

Foxes are noted for their ability to adapt to a range of changing conditions and while wildlife organisations say there is nothing wrong with putting out food for them, they warn against trying to tame them because they may scare people by approaching to be fed.

They eat almost anything put out for them, such as cooked or raw meat, tinned pet food, vegetables, cheese, scraps from the table, and fruit.

In the wild they eat earthworms, insects, fruit, and vegetables and any birds and mammals they can catch.