Firefighters in the capital have spent almost a quarter of a million pounds rescuing trapped children over the last five years.   

As children break up for the summer holidays, London Fire Brigade is warning parents to keep an eye on their children and to avoid incidents of being locked in public toilets or stuck in trees. 

Since 2009, the Brigade has spent £240,000 dealing with 8,189 incidents including children having their heads stuck in toilet seats, trapped under a slide or wedged in a statue. 

In the last year alone, they have had to deal with 1,508 incidents, or around five-call outs a day including 500 children being locked inside toilets and bathrooms, over 130 children being stuck in trees, 50 kids locked in cars, and 24 incidents of children getting their hands stuck in letter boxes.      

Brigade officer Dave Brown, 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."

It costs the Brigade on average £290 to deal with each incident.