The fox which found itself trapped in House of Fraser, tripping alarms overnight and causing the store to be evacuated and close, has been released back into its natural habitat.

After the building was evacuated on Bank Holiday Monday, and closed to the public around lunchtime, the Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre were called to assist the stricken animal, who had hidden behind a rack of jeans.

Despite suffering more of an ordeal than the average shopping trip brings – including crashing through a ceiling panel to make her way from the storeroom into the main body of the shop – the vixen made an admirable recovery, seemingly unperturbed by her foray into an alien environment.

Staff were reluctant to let the fox roam free in the town centre in the middle of the day, so after being fed and given a few hours rest, she was released back into the wild yesterday evening.

A spokesperson for the rescue centre said: “The fox was fine, we checked her over and she was released last night.”