Jeremy Vine says it 'seems unusual' seeing Prince George in suit

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Bruce Lindsay-Smith is one of the top fox hunters in the country and noted that as the population of foxes increased, so has his business as councils demand help. Mr Lindsay-Smith, 63, spoke about how he once included the Royal Family in his client contact book, who needed their fox population reduced.

According to the Daily Star, he said: “They were fouling on little George’s garden toys and what have you.

“They didn’t want the children running around on the grass with fox mess all over it. You can’t blame them.”

He also noted that the foxes terrorised King Charles’ dogs by chasing them around the grounds.

The fox hunter has only had 10 nights off over the past two years and has an average of five kills per job.

His skills are in high demand as councils are short of resources and staff to take care of the issue.

On his jobs, Bruce takes a .22 Long Rifle, which is fitted with a silencer and infrared and thermal telescopic sights.

According to Bruce, there are approximately 150,000 urban foxes currently living in the UK, which is more than almost any other country.

The fox hunter has been shooting most of his life and started when he went rabbit-hunting with his dad when he was a child.

Equipped with an open firearms certificate, Bruce can legally open fire when he deems it appropriate.

In order to attain this privilege, he had to complete a safety assessment and inform local police forces of his location in the event that the neighbours report concerns about seeing him with his gun.

In one night, Mr Lindsay-Smith killed 36 foxes on a golf course and once boasted about dispatching up to 13 in a single garden.

Speaking about how he feels about killing the animals, Bruce said: “I don’t feel any remorse for shooting a fox.

“There are more than ever. When I go to look at people’s places, they’ve been wiped out of chickens. I’ve even been asked to bury people’s cats.”

Despite what he does for a living, the fox hunter has a pet fox called Charlie which he found being pelted with stones as a cub by youths.

Bruce decided to keep Charlie and raise him alongside his Jack Russells.

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He said: “I do find them very interesting animals. You can learn things from them – their capabilities, their preferences.

“But I’ve never got too friendly with Charlie. He’s never been a friendly fox.”

Given the nature of his work, Bruce has a number of critics who argue that humans need to adapt to living alongside foxes rather than slaughtering them.

The Fox Project founder Trevor Williams believes that “nothing you can do will create a permanent fox-free zone” and his foundation now gives medical treatment to around 1,200 foxes per year.

Denise Humphries is a veterinary nurse who works with the project and she noted that foxes are one of the few animals which help curb the population of mice and rats and “we’d end up with another problem if we got rid of them”.

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