A woman locked in a bathroom was rescued thanks to a quick-thinking friend online thousands of miles away.

The woman, who lives in a block of flats in Miles road, Mitcham, was suddenly locked in the bathroom while chatting to a friend in Canada using internet phone service Skype.

She had left her computer, which she was using to talk to the friend, to visit the bathroom, and had left her phone in another room so was unable to use it to ask for help.

So after realising she was trapped, she screamed for help through the door.

Her friend in Canada, who was still connected to the internet call, heard her cries of distress, and contacted another friend in London, who rang 999.

Firefighters went to the flat and rescued the woman, who lived alone, after scaling a ladder and entering through a window.

The incident happened at about 9.30pm yesterday evening.

A spokesman for Mitcham fire station, who freed the woman, said: “It’s a new one for us. I guess its shows how useful technology can be. Who knows how long she would have been stuck otherwise.”