TODDLER Siobhan Walker managed to win the hearts of a whole fire station -- by getting her head stuck in a garden gate.

The accident-prone two-year-old was playing in her mum's back garden when she suddenly became trapped.

And no matter how she tried, she could not free herself.

Five firefighters from Horwich Fire Station had to come to her rescue.

Mum Joanne Topping, who lives in Grosvenor Way, was giving her seven-year-old son, Michael, some medicine for his chickenpox when the accident happened.

Her older daughter, Charlotte, aged 10, called her into the garden and she found Siobhan with her head stuck in the gate.

Joanne tried her best to free the wriggling youngster but realised the only way to get her out would be to call 999.

"There was no way I could get her out," Joanne said. "I tried everything, but Siobhan's head was completely stuck.

"When the firemen came they were smashing. They got her out in no time at all -- and they even gave her a lolly.

"Siobhan liked her rescuers so much that she tried to get a lift on their fire engine," Joanne said.

"I think she got her head stuck on purpose so that they would have to come to our house!

"I gave her a big cuddle afterwards, but she was more interested in the firemen. She tried to follow them back to their fire engine!"

Joanne gave Siobhan an extra treat by taking her to the fire station to thank her rescuers last night.

She also took her son, Michael, who missed all the excitement because he was poorly in bed at the time. Sub-officer Shaun Walton, who led the rescue, said: "It only took us a couple of minutes to get to Siobhan's house, so she wasn't stuck for very long.

"She was a little bit distressed when we arrived but we gave her a lolly and she soon cheered up."

The firemen called an ambulance, but the paramedics decided Siobhan did not need to go to hospital.

Her mum is planning to put a piece of wood over the gate so she cannot get trapped again.