The London Fire Brigade said today that is has been called out to deal with nine men who had rings stuck on their penises.

They say the number of incidents involving people being stuck or trapped in objects like handcuffs and toilet seats has risen over the last three years. 

The new figures have prompted calls from fire chiefs for people to think carefully before dialling 999.

In the last three years the capital’s fire crews have been called out to:

- 18 incidents involving children with their heads stuck in potties or toilet seats

- Five incidents involving people’s hands being stuck in shredders

- 79 incidents involving people being trapped in handcuffs

- Nine instances of men with rings stuck on their penises.

- Four incidents where people had their hands stuck in blenders

- 17 incidents involving children with their fingers stuck in toys, including one with lego stuck on his finger

The Brigade said that in the past its crews have been called to a man whose penis was stuck in a toaster, and another with his manhood trapped in a vacuum cleaner.

Despite the unusual nature of some of the incidents, the brigade was keen to stress that people should always call 999 in the case of a genuine emergency.

Third Officer, Dave Brown, said: “Some of the incidents our firefighters are called out could be prevented with a little common sense. I don’t know whether it’s the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up.

"I’m sure most people will be fifty shades of red by the time our crews arrive to free them.

“I’d like to remind everyone that 999 is an emergency number and should only be used as such. When firefighters are out attending to some of these avoidable  incidents, someone else could be in real need of emergency assistance.

“If there’s a genuine emergency, fire crews will of course attend and will be on the scene to help within minutes.”