A man found himself in need of medical attention after accidentally getting his penis stuck in a pipe while painting in the nude.

Lian Tien, 61, slipped while painting the walls of his house in Quanzhou city in eastern China, and found his manhood lodged in a 5cm diameter steel pipe that was attached to his air conditioning unit.

He managed to cut the pipe from the wall, but no matter how much oil or washing up liquid he tried to use as lubricant, he could not free himself.

The man was too embarrassed to tell his family what had happened, according to local media, but his son found him after two days with a fever and a bright red swollen penis.

Tien was rushed to hospital and tried to explain his embarrassing story to quizzical doctors. However, his embarrassment did not end there, as the hospital had to call in the fire service who used an electrical cutting tool to very carefully cut the man free in a four hour operation.