A YOUNG man was rescued by firefighters after getting stuck while trying to retrieve a football in a Newton Abbot park.

The 19-year-old’s heroics turned to comedy for his onlooking mates yesterday when the ball tumbled out of the branches during the luckless lad’s ascent.

It was no laughing matter for him when he realised he had reached the point of no return in the unforgiving horse chesnut tree in Courtenay Park.

Amused chums took snaps of their stranded pal while firefighters rushed to the scene at 5pm with their handy extension ladder.

The kit was duly used to recover the source of the SOS shout, who expressed his embarrassed gratitude to the crew on his safe return to terra firma.

A fire spokesman said: ‘He was about 14ft up the conker tree. As he climbed the ball fell out. Friends thought it quote amusing, but he got a bit panicky.

‘He realised it was easier to climb up than to climb down. It was too tricky to get back along the branch he was on.’

He added: ‘It was an easy job for us. He was confident enough to step on to the ladder and come down by himself. He was not hurt.

‘He did thank us and apologised for calling us out.’

The operation which happened on Monday took less than 10 minutes.