AN OVER-ACTIVE imagination landed a schoolboy in trouble when he tried to emulate his Lord of the Rings hero Frodo Baggins.

Seven-year-old Tolkein fan, Joel Withey, of Eureka Place, Ebbw Vale, got a 15mm copper 'olive' used by plumbers to seal pipes, stuck on his finger while pretending to be the 'ring bearer'.

Joel, who also got a plastic peg lodged in his mouth a year ago, had been playing with his brothers, seven-year-old Jack and Callum, four, on Friday, just before he was due to go to school.

The 'olive' - a compression device which clamps on to a pipe and provides a watertight seal - became firmly clamped on to his finger.

And despite the best efforts of parents, Michael and Claire, it would not budge.

A call to the local doctor led them to go to the Ebbw Vale fire station where the 'olive' was eventually removed by firemen with the aid of a ring cutter.

Mr Withey said: "He was going through my drawer just before he was due to go to school and he came across a copper 'olive'.

"He tried to find a chain to go around it and when he couldn't find one he put it on his finger.

"The more we tried to get it off the tighter it become."

Mrs Withey said: "Lord of the Rings has got a lot to answer for!"

Joel said: "I was pretending to be Frodo at the time and I put the copper thing on my finger and I couldn't get it off."

Howard Gilson, of Ebbw Vale fire station, said: "I think he was more embarrassed than anything."

Little Joel has now vowed to be a little bit more careful the next time his imagination takes him to Middle Earth.

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