A woman was “disgusted” by the response she received when asking for help removing a dead fox from her doorstep.

Laura Harris, 52, of St John’s Road in Golders Green, woke up on May 9 to find the carcass.

She called Barnet Council and was told the fox could not be removed from private property, but when she suggested she might move the fox into the road she was told she would be charged for fly-tipping.

She said: “It took a severe amount of perseverance on my part to resolve this horrible situation.

“If I had been a pensioner would I have been treated with the same disregard?”

Ms Harris then sent three emails to the council’s road clearance customer service address, only to receive a response the following day saying she would hear back in 10 days.

Ms Harris was eventually assisted in wrapping “the festering carcass” and she moved it into a bin, where it was removed by the council.

She added: “I realise these situations must occur more and more but they should be dealt with accordingly. That is why we pay council tax.”

Commissioning director for environment Jamie Blake said: “The animal was removed from the property within 24 hours.”

“We always strive to deliver excellent customer service and apologise if correspondence fell short of expectations in this case. We waived the usual removal fee as a gesture of good will.”