Fourteen-week-old Louis Day suffered bite marks on his head after the animal darted into the sitting room of the house in Dartford, Kent.

His parents say the fox tried to drag the baby out before Louis' father Peter chased it away.

Louis' injuries were treated at Darent Valley Hospital where doctors said the wounds could have been caused by a bite from a fox.

Residents say foxes are becoming more bold

The youngster was kept in hospital overnight and given two courses of antibiotics following the incident on June 26.

He has since returned home and is recovering well but his parents say they are afraid to leave him alone for even the shortest of periods.

Louis' mother Sue Eastwood was with him when the attack happened.

She said: "I'd fallen asleep, Louis was already asleep.

"The next thing he was screaming and I woke up and I was screaming.

"I've seen all this blood coming down his face and the fox is just sitting there staring at us."

'Blood covered'

Peter Day, the father of Louis, said he was in the kitchen when he was alerted by the screams of his wife and son.

He said: "By the time I got back in the room, the fox was sitting there looking at me.

"I did not see him grab Louis but the baby was just covered in blood.

"The fox didn't seem scared at all and just stood looking at me."

Residents in the Temple Hill area of Dartford have complained about the large number of foxes in the area.

They say the animals are becoming braver and are difficult to scare away.

People have approached the RSPCA in an attempt to get rid of the urban foxes.

Meanwhile, Louis' family have called on the local council to tackle the problem of foxes in the area.

But Trevor Williams, director of the Fox Project based in nearby Tunbridge, said this was the first case of its kind that he had heard of.

He said: "I'm absolutely convinced we are looking at a concussed or brain damaged animal to act in this way.

"I would suggest that once it got in it may be attracted by the movement from the baby and perhaps made a tentative bite and perhaps went a bit further, who knows?

"I would not consider this an attack at all. That indicates something vicious and wild and ferocious."