Firefighters called five times a day to rescue children from strange situations

A child had to be freed by firefighters after getting its head stuck in a potty.

The incident last week was one of hundreds that saw London Fire Brigade (LFB) spend almost £240,000 rescuing children who accidentally got locked in rooms or trapped in unusual situations in the last five years.

LFB said it attended 1,508 call-outs involving youngsters getting stuck in or on things in 2013/14 and 8,189 over the last five years – the equivalent of nearly five call-outs a day.

The most recent incident saw a child rescued after getting its head jammed in a potty in Dulwich, south London, last week.

Others include:

• A child with its head stuck under a table in Kingston, south-west London, in 2009.

• A child trapped under a slide in Islington, north London, in 2011

• A child with its leg wedged in a statue in a car park in Kensington, west London, in 2011

• A 13-year-old stuck in a baby swing in a park in Havering, east London, in 2011

• A child with a cone stuck on its head in Enfield, north London, in 2013

• A child with a toilet seat stuck on its head in Hackney, east London, in 2010

• A child with its arm stuck in a TV speaker in Lewisham, south London, in 2012

• A child with a toy train stuck on its finger in Brent, north London, in 2012

Last year LFB also dealt with 500 children locked in toilets and bathrooms, 133 stuck in trees, 50 locked in cars and 24 with a hand stuck in a letter box.

Dave Brown, of the Brigade, said: "Kids are always crawling about and exploring so accidents are bound to happen, but when we are releasing children from under tables and out of TV speakers it diverts our attention from other emergencies.

"Many of the incidents we get called to could be avoided with a little bit of common sense.

"During this summer holiday, I would ask parents to keep an eye on their children and only call 999 if it is a real emergency."