There’s a hedgehog in my mayonnaise

The creature was caught with egg on his face after being found in the middle of the road with the plastic container wedged around his neck.

He was saved by retired firefighter Eric Waddington who cut the bottom off the bottle so the hedgehog could breathe, before taking him to his local station where he and former colleagues helped to free him.

Eric, 60, said: “I was going out in the car and I saw something in the middle of the road.

“It was quite dark and I couldn’t make out what it was so I got out to see because I didn’t want to run over it.

“As I got nearer I thought it was a bit of litter but then I realised it was moving, and this hedgehog had his head trapped inside.”

Eric explained how at first he took the animal to his home in Bolton, saying: “I didn’t really know what to do with him at first.

“But I worried that he might struggle to breathe with the bottle on his head.

“I cut the bottom off so that wasn’t a problem but couldn’t find anything to free his head.

“Surprisingly I don’t have the tools to hand for freeing a hedgehog from a bottle of mayonnaise, and I worried I might do him more damage if I tried to force him out.

“I took him to the fire station where I used to work, I knew we would come up with something.”

Firefighters at Farnworth fire station in Bolton used some small cutting tools to release the tub off the hedgehog’s head on Monday.

A spokesman from Gtr Manchester Fire and Rescue said: “The hedgehog was taken into Farnworth fire station at around 6.40pm.

“Firefighters managed to free the plastic bottle from the hedgehog’s head and the animal was placed into a firefighter’s locker to recover.

“It was then released into the woods by a firefighter on his way home from that day’s shift.”