A teenager found herself up to her neck in trouble yesterday when she got stuck while trying to retrieve her mobile phone from a drain.
Ella-Anne Birchenough, 16, dropped her phone down the drain near her home in Dover, Kent.
Finding herself jammed into the drain, emergency services had to be called but, luckily, it was a quick rescue.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service received the call at 7.17pm and by 7.26pm, Miss Sankey was free.
These photographs, taken by an eye witness, show two firefighters grabbing her arms and hauling her to safety while another watches on.
The girl's mother, Joanne Birchenough , 36, dashed to the scene and then dialled 999 and three firefighters turned up to gently pull the red-faced schoolgirl free.
Ella, a GCSE student at Astol College, said: 'I was talking to somebody and I went to put my phone in my pocket and it fell down the drain.
'I thought to myself 'I'm not leaving this' and I jumped down to get it.
'I wasn't really even stuck, I just need somebody to help lift me out but my mum got all panicky.
'When they pulled me out I ran straight home and jumped in the bath. I think it was just water but I wasn't taking any chances.
'I was just laughing the whole time, I have seen the funny side of it. You just have to laugh along with it.
The schoolgirl said that even at the time, she could see the funny side of the accident
'There have been a few nasty comments about me being fat which isn't nice but I'm trying not to take it to heart.'
Taxi operative Joanne, who also has an eight-year-old son Ben, said: 'I was really worried. My face went white and I was in a panic.
'I was scared she might sink.
'I ran out the house, turned the corner - but as soon as I saw her I burst out laughing.
'I thought 'we are never going to get her out of there' so I called the fire service who got there pretty quickly.
'We are going to have to replace the phone but I'm not too angry. Worst case scenario is she ends up with an old Nokia.
'She is never going to live this down now. We will be bringing it out at her 18th birthday and her wedding.
'But worse things can happen then getting stuck in a drain.'
A firefighter from Dover fire station said: 'She was trying to retrieve her iPhone that she dropped down there. It's very unusual! I hear a few people have taken pictures.'
The drain cover and a pair of red wellies and a towel, understood to belong to the teenager, were next to the drain.
The photos of the incident have been posted on Facebook and Twitter and have since gone viral on the social networking sites.
The girl was not injured but a friend posted on Facebook that the phone was 'ruined'.
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