'Albino' fox cubs seen playing in Hull cemetery

A woman has told of her delight at spotting four rare white fox cubs playing in a city cemetery.

Joy Frances and her family caught sight of the creatures at the former Jewish Cemetery in Ella Street, Hull, on Thursday evening. They were treated to a second appearance on Friday morning.

Ms Frances said: "It really threw us as we just didn't know what they were. We do see quite a lot of foxes but we've never seen any white ones. We stood there for ages watching them playing and play fighting with their mum."

Jennifer Quinn, founder of The Wildlife Alliance Hull and East Yorkshire, said: "Albinism in foxes is very rare, especially in the UK."

Ms Frances said her garden backs onto the cemetery.

She said she could not believe her eyes when her son alerted her to what he thought was a pack of dogs playing together.

"They where there until last light, and then at 7am I looked out the window and the mum was nudging them [the cubs]," said Ms Frances.

"I love foxes, so I was just like wow! My neighbour texted and was saying can we swap houses?"

Ms Quinn explained albinism is caused by "a genetic mutation of the gene that produces the melanin, which produces the colour in foxes".

She added: "It's nice we've got a couple of excited cubs in Hull."

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.