Couples looking to spice up their lives are causing a headache for London firefighters by getting themselves trapped in handcuffs. Photo / Thinkstock
The London Fire Brigade said it was facing a rising number of callouts for people trapped in handcuffs, blaming it on a best-selling erotic novel's "Fifty Shades of Grey effect".

In the past three years the fire service has rescued 79 people unable to escape handcuffs, as well as nine men with rings stuck on their penises, one with his penis trapped in a toaster and another in a vacuum cleaner.

"I don't know whether it's the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up," fire officer Dave Brown said in a statement.
"I'm sure most people will be fifty shades of red by the time our crews arrive to free them."
British author EL James has sold more than 70 million copies of her erotic romance novels, a trilogy starting with the sado-masochistic tale Fifty Shades of Grey.

The fire brigade urged those using handcuffs in the bedroom to "always keep the keys handy"..