Would-be kitten rescuer has to be saved by firefighters after getting stuck in tree - six feet off the ground

A neighbour trying to rescue her friend’s kitten found herself stuck in a tree for 90 minutes – just 6ft off the ground.

Emily Whitton, 22, had to be rescued herself after getting stuck in a tree as she tried to retrieve kitten Bella.

Despite being jumping height from the ground, she had to wait for firefighters to extract her from the tree – as Bella then decided to climb down of her own accord.

Emily had confidently told Saskia she was a “good climber” when Bella got stuck up the 50ft tree, but she only made it a few feet up the tree before getting stuck herself.

The women had to dial 999 and wait for firefighters to come and help Emily free her leg so she could get down.

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The crew only had to use a standard ladder to help her down as she was only jumping height from the ground.

Saskia, 20, said: “It was very embarrassing. About five firemen turned up with their lights flashing.”

She added: “They tied a rope to the tree and used it to help Emily free her leg and one of them climbed up a ladder to get to her and bring her down.

“What was funny was that as that was happening, Bella climbed down the tree to the fireman so they only had to lift her down.”

Bella, who is only 13 weeks old, had escaped through an open window of Saskia’s flat in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and scaled the tree.

Saskia said: “I woke up saw her running across the grass and straight up this tree. I thought ‘oh my gosh I am going to have to go up there and get her down’.

“She seemed quite content, I think it was more for fun that she went up. But I couldn’t go up there and so I asked my friend ‘how good are you at climbing?’

“She told me she was quite good but clearly she wasn’t. She didn’t even get half-way up before she got her leg completely stuck.”

Emily said: “It was really funny. I used to climb trees at my mum’s when I was younger so I thought I’d be OK but obviously I’m a bit out of practice.

“I realised I was stuck when I couldn’t move my leg and my other leg was the other side of the tree.

“It was only a few feet off the ground so normally I would have just jumped but I just couldn’t free myself.

“I started to get pins and needles and felt really silly because I went up there to get Bella down and then I had to be rescued.”

A spokesman from the Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We have a duty of care to protect people from harm, and in this situation we responded to a call of a person at risk.

“Our crews carry the appropriate equipment and are trained to respond to incidents such as this.

“Firefighters used ropes to free the woman’s foot which was stuck.”