Have you ever locked yourself out on a balcony; that click as you pull it to and realise what you've done - and you're alone at home?

Well, that’s what happened to a woman after she went out onto the balcony to enjoy a cigarette, seven storeys up. Click!

This happened at 09.25h yesterday morning in a block of flats in the Plaza de Gracia in the city of Granada. Fortunately for her, she had her mobile in her pocket, so she phoned the emergency services.

The fire service turned up along with the Policía Local with the latter directing the traffic as the fire engine deployed the extending ladder with a cradle up to the woman waiting patiently on her balcony.

The fire chief later explained that this sort of thing happens quite frequently but normally they don’t have to use the extending ladder because they enter through the front door to the flat, using an X-ray sheet or something but on this occasion the woman had left her keys in the lock on the inside so, short of breaking the door down, they had to use the ladder.

Happily, the rescue operation didn’t take longer than ten to fifteen minutes – just enough time for her to finish her fag…

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)