A POLICE Communtiy Support Officer had to be rescued by firefighters after he accidentally handcuffed himself while walking the beat.

PCSO Abu Bakar Bah found himself in the sticky predicament as he practised using the cuffs with a colleague while on duty in Biggin Hill on the night of October 1.

Mr Bah, who has served in the town since last September, tried unsuccessfully to unlock the handcuffs with a key before calling Bromley police station for assistance.

But a cop sent to help could not undo them and the trio were forced to make their way to Biggin Hill fire station.

Firefighters tried to keep a straight face as they applied washing up liquid to Mr Bah's wrists and eased off the cuffs as gently as possible.

Leading firefighter Ben Goodwin, based at the Kingsmead site, said: "They were playing around with the handcuffs to see if they worked when one of them handcuffed themselves.

"Eventually they got a PC up from Bromley but he couldn't get them off. It's fair to say they were a bit red-faced.

"I don't know how long he was handcuffed before they came here at about 10pm.

"We put washing up liquid around his wrist and waited a few minutes. It was a bit painful for the poor chap but we're always pleased to help out the police."

Inspector Nick Stratford, southern sector chief of Bromley police, said a faulty mechanism in the cuffs was to blame.

He said: "There was some familiarisation with handcuffs taking place and the mechanism got jammed.

"That particular set was faulty and the key didn't operate properly. It was a very minor incident and didn't unduly delay them from the execution of their duties."

Mr Bah was unavailable for comment.