BATHTIME was more fraught than usual when toddler Sebastian locked himself in the bathroom with the taps turned on.

Mum Cassie Ravenscroft was filling the bath on Easter Monday and undressing the 19-month-old when he suddenly said 'bye, bye'.

He disappeared behind the bathroom door, which he slammed shut, activating the lock.

Cassie, 27, who lives with husband Sean on Keats Close, Great Sutton, had to call Cheshire Fire Service, who managed to crowbar the door and release Sebastian, who was upset but otherwise none the worse for the ordeal.

Cassie, an English teacher, said: 'It was a freak accident. I had started to run the bath and had got the water to the right temperature and had taken his clothes off. He was down to his nappy. He ran round, said: 'Bye bye,' and shut the door.'

Cassie said the lock was in the centre of the door handle and somehow became activated.

'My worry was the water would overflow and I was also worried that he would get in. He loves the bath.

'I probably panicked him. I was banging on the door and shouting his name and he started crying. I asked him to undo the lock, to undo the button and he was trying but he couldn't undo it so I called the fire brig ade.'

Cassie attempted to remove the door handle using a kitchen knife but couldn't get the mechanism to unlock.

When fire crews arrived, she told Sebastian to stay away from the door.

Firefighters from Ellesmere Port Fire Station used a crowbar to pop open the door and a distraught Sebastian was presented with a Trauma Ted - a teddy bear dressed a fireman - which he has since nicknamed 'Na Na' after the two-tone siren noise.

'He was really excited there was a big fire engine outside,' said Cassie.

'He's quite an adventurous little boy but there's never been anything like this before. '

And after all the drama, Sebastian missed out on his bath. n Chester firefighters helped a five-year-old boy who got his head stuck between the bars of a baby gate at his home on Brentwood Road, Blacon, on Wednesday.

david.holmes@cheshirenews.co.uk