THE council is on the case to help one Cumnock resident plagued by a mischievous animal who keeps raiding the bins.

Every time Marie Hughes put out her green food bin a sly fox spotted an opportunity to scoff.

Marie lives in Bankend Cottage in Cumnock where the cunning fox struck.

She said: “For months something kept getting into the food bin, but nobody had ever seen the animal. Then one morning my husband got up for work and spotted it.” The green food bin gets collected on a Monday morning and Marie would leave it out on a Sunday night.

She said: “I went to collect the bins and the fox had got there before me and it was spread across the driveway. We have called East Ayrshire Council and the SSPCA but they have said there is nothing they can do about the fox.” Now the council have decided to try and come up with a solution to thwart the clever fox.

Gerry Darroch, East Ayrshire Council’s Acting Head of Housing and Communities said: “We fully understand the frustration caused when waste material that has been placed out for collection is disturbed.

“We’re now looking into the matter at Bankend Cottage to see if we can help the local resident find a practical solution to prevent foxes from knocking her food waste bin over.”