AN ELDERLY woman was trapped for 24 hours when a deck chair collapsed wedging her inside.

Isabella Ford, 92, sat down on the metal-frame chair in the kitchen of her home when it gave way and trapped her.

The day-long ordeal ended only when her niece, Anne Farish, 59, knocked on the door of her home at South Shields.

When there was no answer, she called the police who broke into the flat. But, unable to free her themselves, they called the fire brigade.

An ambulance crew was also called and paramedics stood by as the firefighters spent an hour freeing the woman.

Fire brigade station officer Dave Bruce said: "She sat down on a canvas seat at home when it collapsed underneath her. She was left with her arms and legs sticking out and unable to make the slightest movement.

"She was on her own and fixed in the seat, unable to raise the alarm by pulling a security cord.

"Her whole body was wedged against the metal framework of the chair.

"It meant her body was twisted and she was rendered immobile. It took us about an hour to cut her free. It was a job that had to be handled very carefully, for obvious reasons.

"She was taken to hospital because she was in quite some discomfort after being stuck in one position for such a long time."

Mrs Farish said: "She is still in hospital and they say she is poorly.

"The worst thing was that during the night she could not even reach the light switch so she had to sit there in darkness.

"She slept a little bit, but for most of the time she was awake and in a lot of discomfort."