Friendship proved more resilient than diamonds when one woman let her pal try on her treasured rock-encrusted ring and it became stuck.

The 72-year-old had admired the ring and gladly tried it on. Unfortunately, when it came to relinquishing it, she was unable to remove it and her finger quickly became swollen exacerbating matters.

The pair went to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital for help but staff were unable to remove the ring and directed the friends to Thanet fire station.

Firefighters there, who regularly help with rings stuck on fingers, had no option but to use cutting gear.

A spokesman said: "It was tricky because of the number of diamonds, but we managed to operate so the cutter found its way between two of them. Because diamonds are so hard, there was little risk of damage to them.

"The owner of the ring was very good about it and said she had wanted it increased in size but the jewellers she had approached said they were unable to do it because of the number of diamonds. She said afterwards now they would be able to!"

The incident happened on Saturday evening (April 19).