FIRE crews came to the rescue of two security guards who were trapped inside a cash machine for nearly two hours.

The pair were refilling the ATM at Six Ways in Erdington yesterday lunchtime when a door swung shut behind them and locked them inside.

Fire crews used industrial cutting gear to take off the door and free the men and then stood guard with police while thousands of pounds in cash was unloaded.

A spokesman for Erdington Fire Station said: “It was certainly one of our more unusual rescues.

“We understand they had alerted the fire service by mobile phone but when we got the scene it was difficult to communicate so they dismantled part of the machine and spoke to us through the front of the machine where the cash is dispensed.

“In the end we decided that the only solution was to grind the hinges off the doors and use spreading tools to open a gap which allowed us to free them.

“Because the machine was no longer secure, the police and ourselves stood by while quite a lot of money was taken out and put back in the van.”