Ferret survives washing machine trauma

A pet ferret has made a "miraculous" recovery after spending a full cycle in a washing machine.

The animal, named Bandit, was given just a one per cent chance of survival after going through a 100-minute wash when he snuck into his owners' washing machine in Leeds.

The ferret suffered a collapsed lung and bruising in the incident and vet David Massey revealed that he was in a "pretty bad way".

He told BBC News: "The team here got to work quickly to try and save his life.

"His owners' quick-thinking upon realising the situation also helped ensure we could prevent a tragedy.

"Amazingly, within four hours of being admitted he took a few gentle steps, which is when we started to become confident that he would make a good, and miraculous, recovery."