A cute baby fox was rescued by wildlife volunteers from a waterway in Surbiton in footage that has since gone viral online.

Tens of thousands of people have now seen images of volunteers with the Wildlife Aid charity helping save the fox pup from a canal in Surbiton earlier this year.

CEO and Founder of Wildlife Aid Simon Cowell was filmed in April helping the cub escape a canal system, which ran across the back of a person's garden who called the wildlife charity for help.

The footage showed the small, furry cub cowering in a corner of the concrete-banked canal, before Simon descended into the shallow water to help it on its way.

As Simon gathered the little fox up in a towel and soothed it, wondering what to do next, a remarkably timed intervention from a neighbour on the other side of the canal showed that the cub's family were likely just a few metres away in a nearby den next door.

The fox, who by now was sleeping soundly in Simon's embrace, can be seen being gently released just outside the den, and scurries quickly off inside to the sound of other foxes Simon described as "chat".

"Simon was called out to help an adorable baby #fox who had taken a tumble into a river. Whilst rescuing him was easy, trying to get him home would have been difficult, had it not been for a kind neighbour!" Wildlife Aid tweeted.

The video, seen by over 67,000 people on YouTube so far, attracted dozens of positive and encouraging comments from viewers who roundly praised Simon and Wildlife Aid for their work.

Wildlife Aid were founded in Surrey in 1980, and host a veterinary wildlife hospital in Leatherhead.