Matalan ferret and building site badger among RSPCA's 13,000 West Midlands incidents

Now, the RSPCA is revealing some of its top rescues of the year in the West Midlands, including a badger who was rescued from a building site in Dudley.

The charity were called by construction workers after finding the badger asleep under one of their pieces of machinery on March 8.

Animal rescue officer Cara Gibbon was sent to the building site to help the badger.

She said: "Workers arrived at the site after a relaxing weekend to find the badger curled up sleeping underneath a power float machine.

"He’d climbed through a gap at the top of the machine and fallen into it before curling up and enjoying a little nap. He was covered by tarpaulin so it was probably nice and warm and cosy in there!”

The badger was not injured, so workmen helped lift the heavy piece of equipment so he could scurry off.

And staff at Matalan in Smethwick had quite the shock when they spotted a ferret scampering around the shop.

Inspector Dave Hollinshead was called to the Windmill Shopping Centre branch to rescue the escaped pet, who was nicknamed Chanel and taken in by the RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre while officers tried to find her owners.

Another top rescue of the year happened in Tamworth, when Ella the hamster got stuck down a sink pipe for two days.

Leanne Hinton and her daughter, Lily, tried to tempt her out with food and, when that didn’t work, they called for help.

When the hamster didn’t emerge overnight, the rescuers returned the following day and RSPCA inspector Herchy Boal pushed a waste pipe down the gap so Ella could clamber out.

Leanne Hinton said: “We couldn’t believe it - after all the commotion she had caused with the RSPCA and fire service trying to rescue her and then she makes her own way out and sits in the cage as though nothing had happened.

"Lily was delighted to have her back - she cried tears of joy and Ella’s hamster friend Teddy was also happy, he was rubbing noses with her.”