Brighton woman freed from handcuffs by firefighters

A woman from Brighton was freed from a pair of handcuffs by firefighters early this morning (Monday 22 December).

The woman contacted East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service just after 5am to say she couldn’t get the cuffs off.

As she wasn’t cuffed to a fixed object, she was asked to take herself to her nearest fire station – Preston Circus.

In the meantime the fire service contacted the Sussex Police to check that she wasn’t on the run.

They freed her just before 6.30am.

Fire station manager Richard Chamberlain said: “We used to get quite a few stag parties handcuffing stags to lampposts but we don’t get that many any more.

“They tended to be toy handcuffs and were easily broken although we do see some fairly solid ones.

“When anyone contacts us in handcuffs, we have to check with the police and prison service before we release them to make sure they haven’t lost anyone.”

He added that in the past escaped prisoners had turned up asking to be cut free.

Mr Chamberlain declined to be drawn on whether more incidents could be expected with the forthcoming release of the film Fifty Shades of Grey.

But he gave general safety advice, saying: “We would advise people not to secure themselves to a fixed object just as a matter of general safety.”