FIREFIGHTERS and police were called to free a woman from public toilets in Lake on Monday ­— after she was screaming "for hours" to be freed.

Cllr Adrian Whittaker was among those to be alerted to the incident, as he was making his way back to Sandown following a Newchurch Parish Council meeting.

He said the woman was locked in the toilets for around three hours, and had been shouting and screaming for around two hours for someone to let her out.

Cllr Whittaker had to phone the fire service, who sent a single crew from Shanklin to cut the padlock, because a spare set of keys was unavailable.

Hampshire and IW Fire and Rescue Service confirmed a crew was sent at 9.30pm.

Bolt croppers were used to release the woman, and the crew stood down at 9.46pm.

Cllr Whittaker said a contractor from Top Mops had locked the toilets at 7pm, not realising there was a person inside.

Lake Parish Council chair, Paul Brading, said: “Lake Parish Council owns the public toilets in New Road, Lake, where the incident happened.

“The locking and unlocking, as well as cleaning and maintenance of the toilets, is carried out by Top Mops, in line with their contract.

“My deputy, Cllr Whittaker, was there on the scene, and I asked him to call the fire brigade immediately to cut the padlock on the door so that a person inside could be released.

“Prior to this, I tried to call Top Mops, but they do not have an out-of-hours phone contact.

"We do not have any information on how the person came to be in the toilet.

“Top Mops said they locked the toilets at around 7pm after carrying out their ‘usual checks’, and did not detect anyone inside.

“The toilet windows were open, so it is possible, albeit unlikely, that entry could have been made that way.

“We have been in contact with Top Mops and re-emphasised the protocols for locking up, and questioned why their switchboard is only manned until 8.30pm.

“As a parish council, we have taken a direct action already, and now have a spare set of keys.

“In the ten years that the parish council has owned these toilets there has not been an incident of this nature before, but in the light of what we know, there will be an item on the agenda for our next meeting to discuss and decide if any further action is required.”

Top Mops has been approached for a comment.