Firefighters had to free a teenage girl after she became wedged in a children's swing.

The 14-year-old had squeezed herself into the council-owned apparatus, which is designed for toddlers, and soon realised her predicament.

Matt Barney, crew manager at Sittingbourne Fire Station, said: "She was fairly distressed when we reached her. Her thighs were wedged in the seat."

The crew, which turned up in a fire engine, had to dismantle the seat around her with spanners and screwdrivers.

During the rescue operation they had to snap off retaining bolts which made the swing dangerous to use and it is now out of order.

Mr Barney added: "As a matter of safety, we removed the seat and its chains. I think the girl has learned an important lesson and won't do it again."

The crew from Kent Fire and Rescue were called to the South Avenue play area at Chilton Park at 4pm on Sunday.

A Swale council spokesman said: “Kent Fire and Rescue Services made us aware of the incident involving a 14 year-old getting stuck in the baby cradle swing at Chilton Park play area.

"They needed to remove the swing to be able to safely free the teenager from it.

"We aim to have the swing repaired, reinstalled and ready for use for babies and toddlers by Wednesday."

She added: “Our playgrounds have different ranges of equipment and therefore are not suitable for all ages.

"There’s no hard and fast rule on what ages can use our equipment but clearly there will be more challenging equipment that’s not suitable for toddlers and, of course, baby equipment which is not suitable for teenagers.

"On all occasions we say that parents need to carefully supervise younger children while using our facilities and we urge older children without their parents present to use the parks and play areas sensibly.”

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