Boy gets trapped in snack machine

A two-year-old boy had to be rescued by firefighters after getting his hand stuck in a crisp vending machine at a Black Country pub.

Crowds in The Red Lion pub in Lower Gornal cheered when crews freed the child's arm, which had become trapped when he reached up to try to grab some Pringles.

Firefighters from West Bromwich station were called to the Abbey Road pub at around 8.30pm on Saturday.

The boy had reached up the dispensing chute in a bid to snaffle a mini packet of the snacks, which were contained in a 4ft round, transparent machine.

Watch commander Phil Richards, of West Bromwich fire station, said when they arrived about 30 people were gathered around the stricken boy and everyone had been working hard to try to get him out and had removed the top of the machine.

"There was loads of people in there and they all cheered when we walked in," he said.

"He was upset when we got there but he came round and he was alright."

He added: "What I did was basically try to feed his hand back through the way it had gone in as it had twisted around a bit."

Linda Rohrer, from the pub, said the youngster was a "lovely little boy".