Key search man trapped in drain

Graham Todd was later hosed down by firefighters

A man was rescued by firefighters in Manchester after getting stuck in a drain trying to retrieve a set of keys.

Graham Todd lifted the manhole cover and went in feet-first when one of his friends dropped her keys down the grid in Blackley.

Mr Todd, 32, of Benchill, had taken his shirt off, but got stuck tight inside the pipe and fire crews were called in to winch him out.

"The things you do for your friends," Mr Todd said.

Mr Todd was with a friend whose pregnant partner dropped the keys.

Hose surprise

"I said I'd go in, I'm not frightened of anything," Mr Todd said.

"I put one hand above my head and the other down and then bent down, but all I found was a fork."

Firefighters used a harness to pull Mr Todd, who was celebrating his birthday, out of the hole.

"They said to me: 'We've got a surprise for you' and then turned the hose on to wash me down," Mr Todd said.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: "We would urge people to think about the consequence of placing themselves in dangerous positions to retrieve items."