Edinburgh fox caught stealing shoes and leaving them in a pile in Longstone

Residents in Longstone left confused by the constant disappearance of footwear in the area have now discovered a local fox has been collecting shoes, sandals, boots, trainers and even crocs, and leaving them in a local street.

For the past few months footwear left outside locals’ homes has been going missing at night, with residents left wondering where they were going and who was stealing them. However, thanks to residents’ motion activated security cameras and locals up and about at night, a mischievous fox has been outed as the footwear thief.

And while discarded shoes have been discovered all over the area, the fox has been leaving piles of shoes on pavements and drives, in particular at Redhall Place.

One local resident, Sue Johnston, told the Evening News that she has seen the footwear thief sleeping on hedges in the area after a hard night of shoe-lifting.

She said: “The fox has taken over the streets of Longstone with its shoe fetish. I haven't lost any but my neighbour on the other hand has lost two different shoes. It seems Mr Fox only takes shoes he or she has taken from different properties around the area – at least up to 30 different shoes.

“In the last few weeks, he has also decided the best place to sleep is on top of tall hedges. Which has never happened before.”

The Longstone community Facebook page has been inundated with messages about the fox in recent weeks. One said: “The fox has decided our front garden is where he stores his stolen shoes.” Another jokingly added: “I wonder if he’s taking orders? Size 4 sliders for my hols please!” While another said: “I think by all these posts we know who runs the streets up in Longstone.”

Others have suggested arranging a central pick-up point for residents to retrieve their stolen shoes.

Speaking about this foxy behaviour, a spokesperson for the Scottish SPCA said: “This is not something we have heard about before and we hadn’t heard about these incidents in Longstone. We don’t know why the fox is doing this. I phoned a fox expert and they hadn’t heard about this type of behaviour either.”