Squirrelled away: rodent rescued from German manhole cover

Firefighters, police and a veterinary clinic combined forces to rescue a red squirrel that had got its head stuck in a manhole cover in the western German city of Dortmund.

Dortmund’s fire department said it responded to a call about a rodent in difficulty on a street next to a park in the city centre.

When rescuers arrived, they spotted the squirrel’s head poking out of a hole in the cover.

Initial attempts to free the animal were unsuccessful, so the entire manhole cover was removed and taken to a nearby veterinary clinic, while police were called in to guard the open sewer.