A QUIET night at home turned into a real dr'arm'a for a Stowmarket woman when three firemen had to rescue her from her armchair.Fiona Scarff had planned a night glued to the TV but also got her arm stuck fast down the chair as she fished for her mobile phone.

A QUIET night at home turned into a real dr'arm'a for a Stowmarket woman when three firemen had to rescue her from her armchair.

Fiona Scarff had planned a night glued to the TV but also got her arm stuck fast down the chair as she fished for her mobile phone.

The phrase 'armchair' took on a whole new meaning for Mrs Scarff 45, of Beaumont Way, after the phone fell into a small hole in the seat of the chair. Without thinking, Mrs Scarff delved in to fish it out and spent the next 45 minutes trying to get free.

She said: "I put my arm down in this hole and then I couldn't get it out again. It all happened quite quickly, I couldn't believe it."

Fortunately the house phone was resting on a nearby chair so she could call for help, as husband Keith was not around.

Mrs Scarff said: "It was really lucky that I could reach it, otherwise I don't know what I would have done.

"I rang my daughter and she thought I was joking, so I called my neighbour and she came round.

"She tried to pull my arm out but it wouldn't budge and she just looked at me and said: 'We're going to have to call the fire brigade'.

"I felt so embarrassed but the thing was I just couldn't see any other way of getting my arm out."

Mrs Scarff, was quite literally on the edge of her seat as three firefighters turned up, armed with a crowbar.

She said: "They got the crowbar and took the front off the chair. I suppose it took about 15 minutes.

"They were really good and didn't laugh too much. One of the men said to me that he'd been in the fire service for 24 years and never seen anything like it."

Russell Punchard, officer in charge at Stowmarket Fire Station, said: "She was well and truly stuck and definitely needed our assistance in getting out."

The incident happened at around 5pm on Friday and, although it was sore at the time, Mrs Scarff's arm now bears no signs of the ordeal.

She said: "It had quite a few kind of red burn marks on it, but they've gone down now and it doesn't hurt."

Mrs Scarff has now been reunited with her phone and the chair has been put back together.

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