A VILLAGER got a shock when he discovered a badger in his garden bin.

Alan Davis, 67, found the creature peering out when he went to dispose of rubbish.

Mr Davis, of Plaisters Lane in Sutton Poyntz, said he was amazed when he discovered he unexpected addition to his household waste.

He said: “I was tidying up the garden and went to throw some bags out and saw this head popping up, looking at me.

“It’s definitely not what I expected to see.”

Mr Davis thinks the badger became trapped after falling into the bin.

He added: “It’s a baby one, and I think it must have gone in there to scavenge for food.

“The dustbin is kept next to a wall, so it could have nosed the lid open, fallen in and been unable to get out.”

He and wife Joyce released the badger in their garden, which borders a field.

Mrs Davis said: “It was quite sweet really.

“We get a lot of wildlife here, and we always have foxes, badgers and deer running around the garden, which is lovely.

“It’s like a nature reserve.”

She added: “Alan called me when he found the badger and said he had found something interesting.

“I couldn’t believe it when he told me.”

The couple have lived at the house for five years and said it’s the first time wildlife has ended up in their bin.

Mr Davies said the badgers and foxes regularly use his garden as a cut through to cross the road in front of the house.

“They go down the side of the house, which is a badger run, a sort of road for them.

“They always go the same way.

“I think it’s something they pass on through the generations.”

He has learned from other people in the village that badgers have been a regular fixture in the area since at least the 1970s.

He added: “There is some building work on the opposite side of the road and a fence was put up the day before we found the badger.

“It’s blocking their usual path so I wonder if it got confused and ended up back in our garden.

“It’s very strange.”