Having had experience of a rat in the garden the droppings look suspiciously like a rat's. I rang the Council who contract out and who were very reasonable.

Could also be hedgehog. They too have black droppings as they eat beetles.

Hedgehog was my first thought.

Yes, I thought Hedgehog too.

I think if you have a rat you will find lots! Like mice they poo as they go so there will be a lot of them. Hedgehog poo is more likely to have a tapering end (technical and moderately disgusting I know!) and contain bits of beetle casings etc. Rat poo is more rounded both ends I think.

Can't really tell the size of the droppings but I would have gone for fox.

Foxes usually eat things with fur or feathers and the poo show signs of that. It is usually mostly grey and you can see what look like threads in it even without studying it closely - which I haven't.

Most often I've found that hedgehog droppings are about an inch and a half in length, whereas rat's are peanut (unroasted) size and shape. However try googling both kinds and you'll see pictures which may help in the ID.

Thank you everybody who responded to my question. The general consensus is that we have a random hedgehog around the garden. I hope he stays with us.