Firefighters have rescued almost 2,000 obese people from their homes over the past three years.

Health professionals say the figures expose 'the hidden problem' of an obesity crisis which is putting other lives at risk elsewhere because crews are being diverted from their normal duties.

More than 5,000 fire and rescue workers were involved in freeing those who have got stuck, using crowbars, animal harnesses and electric saws, as well as chimney rods and aerial ladders.

Time-consuming: More than 5,000 fire and rescue crews have been involved in freeing obese people who have got stuck in their homes in the past three years, including Britain's fattest woman Georgia Davis (pictured)

From January 2013 to May this year, emergency crews were called to 1,866 such incidents, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Times.

It is believed the number of rescues may be even higher, however, as not every service provided firefighter figures or gave information in the same timeframe.

According to Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, four to five firefighters would have been called to deal with each incident because 'we are talking about lifting people in quite difficult situations or positions.'

In April, it took a seven-hour operation involving two cranes, seven police cars and two fire engines to free Britain's fattest woman from her home.

Weighing 55 stone, Georgia Davis has to be periodically removed from her flat in the village of Cwmaman, on the edge of Aberdare, Wales, to be taken to hospital for treatment.

The cost of dispatching a fire engine is believed to be in the region of £400, with obesity-related call-outs coming at a time when fire service budgets are being 'slashed', Mr Wrack added.

Cuts by almost of third have resulted in the loss of almost 7,000 firefighters.

London had the most so-called 'bariatric rescues' with 180, followed by 106 for South Wales and 95 in Scotland. More than 500 firefighters were called to 58 incidents in Cleveland, North Yorkshire, alone.

In April it took a seven-hour operation involving two cranes, seven police cars and two fire engines to free her

During the incident, a 40-strong team of emergency service personnel and engineers laboured for seven hours to remove her from her bedroom at the housing association home she shared with her mother and stepfather

Meanwhile, a report published in January by consultancy group McKinsey said that obesity is currently costing Britain around £10billion a year.

In October it emerged that rising obesity levels had forced health bosses to spend £7million adapting hospitals and buying specialist equipment to handle larger patients.

The money was spent on reinforced beds, bigger wheelchairs, wider corridors and even larger morgue fridges in the last five years as a result of the obesity epidemic, according to figures.

The new statistics, obtained by Sky News through Freedom of Information requests, were released at the height of the row between health campaigners and the Government over the introduction of a sugar tax to help curb obesity.

Ambulance services have also had to expand their bariatric budgets.

Figures released earlier this year showed there were more than 800 ambulances - often costing about £100,000 each - in the UK which have either been designed or adapted to deal with patients weighing more than 50 stone.

Around a quarter of adults in the UK are classed as obese – the second highest rate in Europe - and a further 40 per cent are overweight.