A Munich man has set what may prove an unassailable record for the number of steel rings lodged on a penis after presenting himself at a local hospital with no less than 13 engorgement aids encircling his swollen member.

Die Welt explains that the unnamed 52-year-old had endured four days of entrapment when he rolled up at accident and emergency on Tuesday. Doctors prescribed the traditional remedy - a group of firemen bearing cutting tools, on this occasion a couple of angle grinders.

Following an hour of "complex and extremely careful work", the skilled operatives released the man, who was then turned back over to the doctors for further treatment.

Back in 2010, no less than eight firemen were required to liberate a chap's hampton from a three-inch length of steel pipe, again using an angle grinder.

Last month, a Spanish fire crew were called to remove four steel rings from the base of a 40-year-old foreigner's spam javelin, although in that case they deployed a "Dremel-style" mini saw. ®