An elderly couple who live on the Powys/Shropshire border were worried an intruder may have been in their home after strange noises started coming from their attic.Phyllis and Len Lewis, of Llangedwyn, became so concerned they even called in their daughter Linda to investigate the matter.

But when Linda’s partner climbed up into the attic at the pensioners’ home there was no burglar at large. It was a ferret.

The small animal, which had a dead rabbit by its side, then posed another problem for the family – how to catch it.

Linda rang villagers on Wednesday evening after the discovery to see if anyone knew of a ferret that had escaped and then rang the RSPCA helpline.

“I was amazed. When I asked if the RSPCA would come and catch it they refused.

“They said that on the grounds of health and safety reasons their inspectors could not go into attics to retrieve animals.

“Then I asked if they had a humane trap they could lend us but they said no, all they offered to do was to collect it and rehome it if we caught it.”

The family finally found help from gamekeeper Glyn Broadbent.

“Although it was about 10pm by then he came out to bring us a humane trap to put in the attic to catch it,” said Linda.

The following day Linda’s son Luke, 17, went up in the attic to find the ferret safely in the trap.

“We took her to the Arran Veterinary Centre, where staff inspected her.

Apart from some fleas sore eyes and her being underweight she is fine,” Linda said.

The family is still undecided what to do with the ferret, who is enjoying the attention she is getting.

No-one at the RSPCA was available for comment.

By Sue Austin