PARENTS of a three-year-old Headley Down girl have praised the emergency services who freed the child's arm when it became trapped in a pipe at their private swimming pool.

Christina Gachoud was playing in the pool in her back garden in Spats Lane last Thursday with her mother Miranda, and her babysitter when her troubles began.

"She was swimming with her arm bands on when she reached out for a toy and her arm was sucked up into one of the filter points," said Mrs Gachoud.

The filter inlet, used to vacuum clean the pool, had been accidentally switched to suck rather then blow. So when Chrsitina swam near it, her arm was sucked into the pipe, right up to her elbow.

"Fortunately our gardener was here and he knew what to do."

At 2-34 pm the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service was called and fire crews from Grayshott, Bordon, Liphook and Basingstoke's special equipment unit were despatched.

With 17 firefighters and one officer on the scene, the fire and rescue service set about freeing her from the side of the pool.

Initial attempts to pull her arm from the pipe failed because her hand had swollen up, so more drastic action was needed.

Mrs Gachoud and two firefighters wrapped Christina in an insulating blanket and kept her calm while firefighters used a hammer drill - which they borrowed from Altis Tools in Lindford, a hammer and a chisel to break the concrete which surrounded the pipe.

Firefighters also used two portable pumps to lower the water level by approximately 1.5 metres following advice from the ambulance service on the girl's condition.

When Christina's arm was eventually freed, still in the piping, almost two hours later, she was taken to the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford. Her father Mark met her there but there was still more drama to come.

Medical staff wondered how best to remove the pipe without scaring the little girl any more.

"They decided to call in Surrey fire brigade to cut the pipe from her arm but first of all she had to be put under a general anaesthetic."

She was freed after a one-hour operation and was released from hospital the following evening with a small hairline fracture on her finger and bruising. She was due back at the hospital this week for a check up.

Mrs Gachoud told The Herald that while Christina remembers that something happened to her, she has managed to get through her ordeal with no lasting effects.

"She was back in the pool when she came out of hospital. It's absolutely amazing.

"She was completely spoilt when we got her home, she has has lots of chocolate and she has had balloons and toys from her friends."

While acknowledging her daughter's bravery, Mrs Gachoud told The Herald that a lot of praise should be directed towards Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

"I was really worried, especially as Christina was getting cold. It is a heated swimming pool but it was not very warm that day. They certainly kept me calm and I was amazed at what they were doing."

Mr and Mrs Gachoud intend to write to the firefighters thanking them for their efforts.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue spokesman David Askew said: "It is one of the most unusual jobs that we have had to deal with. We have had a child stuck with a toilet seat over his head and a little girl who got her foot stuck in a drain - but no one here remembers ever freeing a children from a swimming pool. This was quite an unusual one and we had the water element to contend with."

Mrs Gachoud said: "I had not heard of anything like this before but now I am hearing all sorts of stories, so I hope that other people take care."