A fire crew called by a worried mother found a four-year-old had locked his ankles together with toy handcuffs and lost the key.

Firefighters had to cut little Caine Bruce free.

Although his mother Laura had told him not to play with the handcuffs, which his father bought him for Christmas, Caine of Lake Drive, Peacehaven, could not resist and clipped them to his ankles.

Laura said: "He came waddling into the room.

"He was walking like John Wayne and I tried everything to prise them off, even a screwdriver, but they wouldn't budge.

"The firefighters just laughed when they got here.

"Caine is a little accident prone. I've got to have eyes in the back of my head."