FIRE crews were called to a hospital last night to assist nurses in pulling a three-barbed fishhook out of a man into his finger.

Officers from Gosport fire station were called to the War Memorial Hospital after nurses were unsuccessful in pulling out the hook.

A crew from Gosport were sent to the Bury Road hospital at about 5.50pm to use specialist equipment – which is normally used in car accidents – to remove it.

Watch manager Rob Dellow said: “The nurses did their best to get it out but they didn’t want to sedate him.

“We ended up using the hydraulic pedal cutter, which we normally use when people’s feet get caught behind the pedals in car crashes, because the jeweller’s saw wouldn’t touch it at all.

“We managed to manipulate it out of his finger.

“He was OK but it was a tense 15 minutes where we were doing a lot of wincing.

“It wasn’t a massive call but it was an interesting one.”