A 50-year-old man had to be rescued by a Ross fire crew after he was accidentally locked in the public lavatories at Red Meadow on Wednesday evening, December 18th.

The man, who spoke to the Gazette about his ordeal asked not to be identified as he did not want to be known as 'the man who got stuck in the lavatory'. He said:?"It might be an amusing story to some, and maybe one day I will laugh about it, but at the time it was horrible. It was an awful night and it was freezing cold."

He went into the cubicle just before 5pm and when he came out he realised the toilet door had been locked. He told the Gazette that there is a button which says press in case of an emergency. "I tried several times but nothing happened, it looked as if it had been disconnected."

Not knowing what to do next the man said he was lucky to have a mobile phone with him and so he called the police. He said he had to wait while the police officer who attended tried to locate the key holder through Herefordshire Council. Eventually he got so upset he said that if the police officer did not call the fire service he would do it himself.

For the full story please see this week's Ross Gazette.