LITTLE Janek Patel's Houdini trick did not quite work when he got locked in a metal box.
The eight-year-old had been playing with his sister Gitta, aged ten, at the family home in Mere Walk, Bolton. The youngsters found a metal chest which their mother had bought the night before.
Janek climbed into it, the lid closed and the padlock snapped shut. Gitta realised there was no key so she ran to her big sister Lena, aged 16, for help.
Lena went to the nearby Bolton Central fire station and a fire crew went to the house and cut off the padlock.
The children's father Mr Nagindas Patel said: "My wife bought the chest the day before and it was in the kitchen. The children took it to the living room and were playing with it.
"I asked Janek why he got into the chest and he said because Gitta told him to. I don't know how long he was in the chest."
The youngster who attends Gilnow School was none the worse for his ordeal.
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