A YouTube prankster has been criticised after cementing his head in a microwave - costing a fire service £650 to free him.

Jay Swingler put his head in a plastic bag inside the microwave before friends poured seven bags of Polyfilla inside, and he quickly became trapped.

After 90 minutes of trying to free him, his friends called an ambulance crew to the address in Fordhouses, Wolverhampton on Thursday afternoon.

Paramedics were unable to help and so West Midlands Fire Service was called, resulting in a rescue operation that tied up five firefighters for almost an hour and cost £650.

Image: Rescue crews say Mr Swingler was lucky not to suffocate

Because the 22-year-old's life was in danger the fire service will have to foot the bill.


Mr Swingler tweeted that he was "very lucky to be alive" and had been left "traumatised".

However, many of his YouTube fans were not sympathetic, suggesting he should apologise and cover the cost of his rescue.

One commented: "You should count yourself lucky and think twice whether you're ever going to put your life at risk again.

"What frustrates me the most is that the time paramedics have spent with you may had affected someone's else survival."

Image: The rescue operation cost the fire service £650

Another said: "Do the right thing and give (West Midlands Fire Service) the money".

Mr Swingler has hit back at claims he wasted the emergency services' time and diverted crews away from other incidents.

In a video posted on Friday, he said he was "in need and would have died without (firefighters)", adding he should be fined for the stunt.

He said: "I'm more than happy to donate my money to the people who helped me that day.

"I should be fined just like the people who get into drunken fights and use the emergency services' time."

West Midlands Fire Service said it was "seriously unimpressed" with the stunt.

Image: Mr Swingler said he was 'very lucky to be alive'

Station commander Simon Woodward added: "We pride ourselves on our five-minute attendance standard.

"That means that if we have an incident where there is life at risk, our appliances will be there within five minutes and that gives us our best chance to save that life.

"If we're attending incidents that are YouTube videos where we have people who've been irresponsible, those crews are unable to attend those life-risk incidents.

"The service charge for that would be £650. We are not going to charge because his life was in danger. What I would like to do is to remind everybody not to put their lives at risk for the sake of other people's entertainment."