OH DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?
WOMAN, 92, TRAPPED IN TOILET FOR THREE HOURS

An elderly woman trapped in an automatic toilet could have been there all night had it not been for the actions of a high-kicking youngster.

Emily Fanshawe, 92, of Fanshawe House, Withering, became stuck in the toilet in The Beeches shopping precinct after the electric door malfunctioned.

"She was quite lucky to be found as that area is usually deserted after the shops close," said firefighter Ted Denbigh.

The alarm was raised at 8pm last Thursday, when the passing boy heard voices coming from inside the toilet cabin.

"I heard the voices as I was coming back from my karate class," said nine-year-old Keanu Johns, “so I pressed my ear to the outside wall of the cubicle.

“I heard a girl's voice say: “Oh help! What are you going to do to me?’ and then a much deeper voice answered: ‘I’m going to eat you all up!’

I was a bit frightened but I knocked on the door to ask if everything was alright.”

When it became clear to Keanu that a person or persons were stuck inside, he took the initiative.

“We’d learned about kicks only that evening in class,” said Keanu, “so I kicked the door as hard as I could.”

While this did not permit the door to open, it did buckle it sufficiently to allow him to see in.

“I saw Miss Emily sitting on the loo with her false teeth in one hand and a red handkerchief in the other,” said Keanu, who immediately dialed 999 on his mobile.

An appliance from the Froghill Fire Service was on hand in a matter of minutes.

"We treated her to a ride in the fire engine and arranged for an ambulance to rendezvous with us at her home,” said Firefighter Denbigh.

"They checked her over and said she was none the worse for her ordeal.”

When later asked why Keanu had heard two different voices, Ms Fanshawe told the Observer that she had been using her hanky and false teeth to dramatically enact the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

“It’s been a particular favourite of mine since I was a child,” added Ms Fanshawe, “and it helped to pass the time.

"Why, what do you do on the toilet?"