For a nut-obsessed squirrel squeezing his way into an enclosed peanut-filled bird feeder was not a problem.

But after a hearty breakfast of nuts, nuts and more nuts the wild creature discovered he no longer had the svelte figure he had started with earlier that day and was now too fat to squeeze back out.

RSPCA inspector Graham Hammond was called in to free the nut fiend after it became trapped in a caged bird feeder that was specifically designed to keep squirrels out.

A member of the public alerted the RSPCA after discovering the squirrel trapped in the feeder in her back garden in Christchurch, Dorset on the morning of 17 October.

Inspector Hammond was able to free the grey squirrel, which was unharmed and immediately ran away.

"This was quite an unusual rescue," said Inspector Hammond. "I think this squirrel had eyes bigger than its stomach but after it had stuffed itself with nuts, it had a stomach too large to escape the feeder - one which ironically, was designed to be squirrel proof."