FIREFIGHTERS cut two trapped toddlers free from a New Forest playground swing - and then heaped praise on the nine-year-old who helped speed up the rescue operation.

The incident happened in a playground at the rear of Marchwood village hall, with three-year-old Emma Horsfield and four-year-old Ellie Penk wedged so tightly in the basket of the swing that they couldn't budge.

Their mums tried to help them out but when they realised the girls were well and truly stuck, Emma's mum Christina dashed to her nearby home in Cranbury Close and dialled 999.

Christina said: "We knew we weren't going to get them out and I decided to call the fire brigade and it was all over very quickly. My daughter was in a bit of distress. One leg went down through the swing and the other one was wedged up against the bar," she said.

Emma's best friend Ellie, who lives a short distance away at The Rowans, was less painfully trapped and her mum Christine said: "She was quite calm all the way through, but the chains on the swing were pressing against her chest and the top of her legs were stuck.

"The Fire Brigade turned up and they were very good. They realised they weren't going to pull them out, so they decided to cut the swing and get them out gently."

But the heroine of the afternoon was nine-year-old Freddie Canton, whose quick thinking cut several minutes off the toddlers' ordeal.

Hythe Fire Station Sub-Officer Phil Gittings explained: "She was the one person who realised we would probably go to the Lloyd Recreation ground, which is the main paying field in Marchwood.

"So she came running, along a footpath and down Vicarage Road past the shops as soon as she heard our sirens.

"She was waving her arms about and she stopped us going past the turning, which probably saved several minutes of suffering and distress for the two little girls who were stuck in the swing.

"Even then, one of the little girls was in quite a bit of pain when we got there. Helping us to get to an incident that much quicker can make quite a difference."

Freddie said: "I knew it wasn't the obvious place for them to go and I thought they might not know about the short cut, so I went down to the main road and waved my arms and they asked me where it was."