CAPTURED on camera by would-be journalist Sarah Spencer, this foxy character was definitely up to no good the night he visited her home in the York area.

And now Sarah, 16, who is the grand-daughter of former Press chief photographer Fred Spencer, has begun to form her own views on where she stands in the great fox-hunting debate.

She she was woken at 2am by the screeches of one of her pet rabbits, Biscuit, and ran downstairs in her nightclothes and wearing no shoes, calling her mum. "As I raced outside, I saw a big fox in Biscuit's run, bearing its daunting teeth at my loved rabbit," she said. "My mum and I managed to remove the fox from the chicken wire run."

But surprisingly, the bold fox didn't make good its escape. "It just waited for us to leave. It wasn't skinny; it was fat and very healthy. Obviously it just wanted to kill my rabbit for fun."

Sarah, whose ambition is to become a journalist, said she took Biscuit inside and tried to calm her down, while her mother protected her other rabbit, Dusky, from the "consistent and determined fox, which was finally scared away.

"The next morning, Dusky had recovered and was watching and waiting for Biscuit to recover, but she was lying on her bed with no energy. After school, the same day, I noticed Biscuit had moved but not eaten anything. She had no signs of injury but was obviously still very shocked, her eyes were dull and her whole body was floppy and uncontrolled."

The family took Biscuit to a vet, who said she had to be put down because the fox had caused her to go into deep shock, which caused mental problems and severe suffering. "As he injected the lethal substance into Biscuit, I could not help thinking: If only I was a bit quicker or if only the fox hadn't got into the garden.

"Although this is in the fox's nature, I want to inform everyone who has an outdoor pet about this, as the feeling of another animal wanting your beloved pet for dinner is horrible." And she asked: "Is this one of the results of the ban on fox hunting?"