Child rescued from plastic pipe on playground

The fire brigade is now working to make the playground safer. Photo / File

A 5-year-old girl was helped out of a plastic tunnel by firefighters this morning after her head got stuck in a hole at her Tokoroa school's playground.

The fire service was called to Cargill Open Plan School at 9.05am to help the girl out of the tunnel in the playground.

"It was only a short tunnel, just over a metre long," Tokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Dave Morris said.

"And cut into the side of the tunnel were some holes - there was a square hole and she put her head through it.

"But because our ears go one way, she couldn't pull her head back out. We got there and talked to her and just manipulated her head and she came out good as gold."

Mr Morris said the girl, who had only recently started school, was crying at first - but once she got to sit in the fire engine she was "happy as anything".

"She was more stressed out because she didn't want to pull her head back through the hole and hurt her ears."

A fire communications spokeswoman said the fire brigade was working to make the playground "a bit safer".

The school's principal would not comment on the incident.