- .Ella-Anne Birchenough, from Dover, Kent, dropped her iPhone in the drain
- .The 16-year-old removed drain's metal cover and lowered herself into hole
- .She attempted to pick phone up with feet but soon realised she was stuck
- .Firefighters had to be called out to hoist her back to safety
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.
The teenager became caught in the storm drain in an attempt to retrieve her phone, that has since between described as 'ruined'
Firefighters rescued the girl from the drain near her home less than 10 minutes after receiving the call
Miss Birchenough was eventually hoisted to safety after he attempt to get her phone went wrong
Ella-Anne shortly after regaining her freedom. The teenager is completely unhurt but the phone is ruined
Kent Fire and Rescue Service received the call at 7.17pm and by 7.26pm, Miss Birchenough 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.
Ella-Anne Birchenough, 16, managed to squeeze down the small drain on her street in Dover, Kent
'I was just laughing the whole time, I have seen the funny side of it. You just have to laugh along with it.
'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.
Ella-Anne had to hoist off the heavy drain cover to climb down, she said even at the time she saw the funny side
'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'.
WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING: STRANGE PLACES PEOPLE HAVE GOT STUCK
The unlucky teen is not the first person to become stuck somewhere most people wouldn't dare tread. Pushing the bounds of ingenuity, people are getting themselves jammed in ever more elaborate places.
1) Who can forget Boris Johnson on the zip wire? At an event in London's Victoria Park back in August 2012, the Mayor of London was whizzing along the contraption in a bid to promote the Olympics. However, his best laid plans went awry when he became stranded halfway along the 1,000ft wire.
Embracing the homour of the situation, Boris meekly waved two Union Jacks while waiting for a ladder to inelegantly help him back to the ground.
Commenting on the incident at the time, David Cameron said: 'If any other politician anywhere in the world was stuck on a zip-wire it would be a disaster. For Boris, it’s an absolute triumph.'
2) Seaside arcade machines are notoriously difficult to win a prize from. However, while most children simply accept their frustration, three-year-old Christopher Air decided to take matters into his own hands while on a family holiday to Skegness in 2008.
Christopher was having no luck snagging a teddy with the machine's mechanical arm but, in the spirit of holiday, his mother went to change a £20 note so her son could try again. But, while her back was turned, Christopher managed to wriggle his way into the machine through the prize flap and get his hands on the bear.
His joy was short-lived, however, as he quickly realised that getting out wouldn't be so easy. To make matters worse, the arcade owner couldn't find his keys and it was half an hour before he managed to free to boy.
At least Christopher was able to hold onto the bear.
3) One prankster in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, saw his joke get out of hand in June 2013, when he managed to squeeze himself inside a traffic bollard in a bid to make his friends laugh. Unable to squirm out in the same way, he wandered along the high street for two hours before police turned up and managed to yank him free.
Unable to hide his relief, the man said 'thank you so much' to the officers who finally rescued him.
Speaking at the time, an eyewitness said: 'It was very random, it’s not the usual thing you see in the middle of Hemel Hempstead on a Sunday lunchtime. I came out of Burger King and this man had the bollard stuck on his head.
'I had seen him walking with it on top of his head five minutes earlier, but now it was pulled right down. 'No-one was helping him because they thought he was just messing around.'
4) Many a person has found themselves caught up while trying to untangle a washing line but it's a more select group who can do the same with a clothes horse.
Student Danielle Morgan, 18, became so caught up in hers, however, she was forced to call out the fire brigade to rescue her.
The student at the University of Derby admitted she was playing around just before the incident occurred in November 2011. She accidentally knocked over the clothes horse and it collapsed onto her, trapping her head and shoulders between its joints.
Posting on Facebook after the drama was all over, Miss Morgan wrote: 'Having four hunky firemen and two paramedics come to my rescue! What a way to spend a Sunday night. I feel like I’ve been stuck in a clothes horse for an hour!'
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