Two boys had to be rescued from a tree by firefighters after a game of hide and seek went awry.

One crew from Leigh fire station was called to Chalkwell Park, Southend, at about 6.45pm on Monday after a member of the public called in after seeing the stranded youngsters, aged about ten, and used a short ladder to get them down.

Firefighter Dan Trendell said the children had got themselves stuck in the tree following a game of hide and seek.

He said: “The two young lads were playing hide and seek and one decided to hide in the tree but himself stuck, so his mate went up to go and help him but he got stuck as well.

“The tree had a lot of moss on it and, because of the rain it had got quite slippery up there, but they were more embarrassed I think than anything else.”

However, he added he would not discourage children from climbing trees in the right conditions.

He said: “They were just doing what children do, like we used to back in the day, it was good old fashioned fun.

“They said ‘we will never do it again’ but I said ‘no, you should do it’ – it’s good for kids to be active.”