A woodcock dumped on the street in a cardboard box has been rescued by librarians in Paddington.

The small bird, called Wesley, was found dumped outside Paddington Library on Friday (December 1), shortly after 1pm.

At first staff believed he was a snipe and therefore named him after American actor Wesley Snipes but soon realised he was a woodcock.

The bird, which was unharmed and hopping about in the box, was taken to a vets in Notting Hill.

Customer services officer Matthew Everatt said: “My colleague found him outside. We have no idea why he had been left there.

The woodcock was taken to a vets in Notting Hill and is now at a bird rescue centre

“He should have been in migration – not near London. Fortunately he seemed well and wasn’t injured.

“He didn’t make a sound but was hopping around in his box. There were nuts in the box and he was quite large so we think he might have been kept as a pet.

Wesley was found in this box outside Paddington Library

“He appeared well, although slightly ruffled.”

Wesley has since been taken to a bird rescue centre.

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now.