She is the cunning little vixen that has been making a mockery of security at one of Britain’s most protected buildings.
Slipping under formidable perimeter fences and evading security guards, she has had the run of the Palace of Westminster for months.
But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that this trespassing fox – which MPs are calling ‘Freda’ because they insist it was ‘a female one’ – has finally tripped one alarm too many and been removed from the Parliamentary estate.
Westminster sources said last night that Freda had been safely captured and released ‘somewhere’, though exactly how and where, they were unable to say.
They also say that at least one other bushy-tailed intruder has been on the estate in the past year or so, but Freda was the one which kept coming back.
She was spotted months ago loitering inside the visitors’ entrance to the Parliamentary precincts. Later, she was lurking just outside the doors of the historic Westminster Hall part of the Palace, with Commons staff trying to shoo the animal back out of the estate.
But since then, the fox, confidently identified by MPs as the same animal, has returned to the Palace on many occasions – prompting one Westminster wag to say that Freda’s attendance record was ‘better than many members of the House of Lords’.
She also displayed a detailed working knowledge of both ends of the Palace, apparently arriving sometimes via the Lords’ entrance not far from where King Charles will enter for State Opening of Parliament next month.
At other times, she preferred to come in via the main gateway to the Commons at New Palace Yard in the shadow of Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben. In fact, Freda has won secret admirers at Westminster over her ability to get under the hugely enhanced security measures in New Palace Yard – including imposing-looking fencing and security controls installed as part of a £75million project.
‘It was digging under the fences,’ revealed one source last night, although he added that the new security was of course designed to stop ‘human intruders – not foxes’.
Freda’s incursions were setting off ‘security beams’ when she entered, to the consternation of round-the-clock security staff.
However, one reason for the furry intruder’s regular visits to Westminster may well have been regular meals.
‘The problem was, someone was feeding it,’ one Westminster source said last night, adding: ‘I used to see it sunbathing.’
There was even a suggestion that Freda had taken up temporary residence under one of the many maintenance cabins inside the estate and may even have had cubs with her.
At least once, Freda traipsed from an outside yard into one of the Parliamentary buildings.
However, sources insisted the animal never made it as far as the Commons or Lords’ Chambers.
Last night, the House of Commons declined to comment on how Freda had been removed.
A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of isolated wildlife sightings. These are infrequent, the animals leave on their own accord.
‘There is no evidence to suggest a recurring problem.’
