Noel Robb is a very luck-key boy.

Noel, four, of Station Approach, Banbury, got his finger trapped in a key ring and was freed after an eight-hour struggle involving 31 people.

Noel's mother Mary Robb, his sister and brother, a friend and her daughter, four nurses, 20 firemen and two paramedics finally unjammed the lad's finger.

Mary had failed to loosen the ring with washing-up liquid and sister Margaret, 12, and brother, Patrick, seven, had done no better with a screwdriver.

So Noel was taken to the Horton Hospital but nurses and paramedics could not release Noel because the key ring was made of steel and his finger was swelling.

Noel was taken to Banbury fire station but the ring cutters there did not work either because they are designed for soft metals like gold.

Specialist firemen were drafted in from Kidlington to try to free Noel's finger, but it was decided it was too risky to use their saw.

Then it was back to the hospital where two more nurses had the bright idea of using an instrument used in surgery for trimming bone called a 'bone nibbler'.

The surgical tool proved the key to success and everyone watched delighted as it sliced through the ring and released Noel's finger.

Mary said: "Everyone did a magnificent job and I cannot thank them enough.

"I'll make sure I keep Noel away from key rings in future.. We don't want to go through anything like this again."

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