A fox trapped and dangling by its hindlegs in a Sevenoaks gate was one of the 59 oddest rescues carried out by the RSPCA in 2022.

The charity has revealed the wackiest animal rescues of 2022 - including a number of napless critters who came a cropper right here in Kent.

It received nearly 300,000 reports of trapped animals, making it one of its busiest years going to the aid of pets and wild animals in difficulty.

A number of the incidents were caught on camera, including the unfortunate fox which managed to get itself trapped by its back leg in a garden in Sevenoaks.

Elsewhere in the county a hedgehog got stuck in a vertical groundpipe and needed to be rescued by the RSPCA and fire crews at a holiday park on the Isle of Sheppey.

A badger found himself in at the deep end when he got stuck in an empty swimming pool at a home in Sandwich.

All of these rescues were featured in the RSPCA's end-of-year list of 59 of the oddest rescues of 2022.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the lot was the starving seal pup that slithered into a Bristol pub - before its tag revealed to rescuers that it had travelled all the way from Scotland.

Stunned staff at the Old Lock & Weir spotted the underweight animal in their courtyard behind a stack of beer barrels.

The inn is 300 miles from the Scottish border where it was last monitored.

Wildlife supervisor Paul Oaten said: "The River Avon runs from the coast all the way along through Keynsham where the pub is situated at the water's edge, so it's likely he found his way there swimming upstream from the coast."

In North Wales, rescuers abseiled 100ft down a cliff to rescue a sheep which was trapped on a narrow ledge.

The animal had tumbled down the cliff in Great Orme after being chased by a dog.

A similar rescue took place in Devon when an eight-strong team of rescuers saved a stranded sheep which was trapped on a cliff ledge 50ft above the ground in Kingsbridge.

RSPCA chief inspector Richard Abbott said: "She was hopelessly stranded.

“Our very patient rescue team accessed the ewe by abseiling down the cliff and over several hours were able to guide her to higher points before she was caught and guided to a nearby field."