Stevenson Smith, from Utah, is now on his way home after having got his finger stuck in a brass ring at the back of his seat in the public gallery.

His parents notified the attendants, who began great efforts to free him.

One official said: "Three of us worked for an hour on him, using hot water, then ice, then butter, but his knuckle was jammed in and we could not free him."

Meanwhile, down on the floor of the Lords chamber, the noble peers were to deeply absorbed in a Bill to set up the Welsh Assembly that they failed to notice the commotion carrying on in the public gallery.

Attendants were finally compelled to unscrew the ring and take the boy to the engineers' control room. "There, a hacksaw was used to cut him free," the official said. "Needless to say, the boy enjoyed it all hugely."