An 11-year-old girl got stuck in a top-loader washing machine after falling through the lid at the weekend. She had been standing on top of it to hang up washing.

The incident happened at her grandparents house in Pietermaritzburg's France Phase 5 Extension of Edendale.

“The girl’s lower legs had folded behind her and she’d been stuck for an hour by the time ER24 arrived,” the paramedic service said.

Members of the community had already helped to strip the outside of the machine and a combination of power and hand tools had to be used to crimp and cut through the barrel to free the girl.

She was not injured, said ER24.