A man trying to take a shortcut home in Woodford Green last night learnt his lesson when he found himself dangling from railings.

Fire crews from Hainault were called to release the man, thought to be in his early twenties, who was trapped by his shoelaces in Repton Park, Regents Drive.

He called the emergency services on his mobile phone at around 1.20am when he realised he could not free himself.

But his position led to “confusion” about his exact location and after searching the area, firefighters called him back to find him.

Firefighter Neil Herbert said: “We found him dangling by his left leg.

“We tried not to laugh and cut him down and made sure he was ok.

“He was a little bit intoxicated but to be fair, he was very apologetic.”

Mr Herbert said the man had got his laces caught while trying to climb over the high fence.

He added: “How he didn’t seriously hurt himself we don’t know. He was lucky.”