Dallas Munroe, who will be two next week, spent 40 tear-filled minutes stuck to the vending machine outside Foodworks at Glenmore Shopping Village before paramedics took him to hospital. Emergency department medics finally ended the tot's ordeal by dismantling the machine.

Dallas Munroe, who will be two next week, spent 40 tear-filled minutes stuck to the vending machine outside Foodworks at Glenmore Shopping Village before paramedics took him to hospital. Emergency department medics finally ended the tot's ordeal by dismantling the machine. Allan Reinikka

ALL little Dallas Munroe wanted was a handful of lollies.

But the Rocky toddler got a lot more than he bargained for when he rammed his arm as far as it would go into a vending machine in his quest for Teddy Bear candy - like a visit from some nice firefighters in their shiny red engine, a ride in an ambulance and a trip to the hospital.

Dallas, who will be two next week, was not happy when he couldn't get his hand out of the machine. And not just because he didn't get the lollies he craved.

Stuck fast and in obvious distress he yelled and hollered as his grandad and mum and passers-by tried in vain to free him.

When the firefighters arrived, Dallas's mum Ashley Maguire tried to soothe the frightened tot as officers used soapy water in a vain effort to slide his arm out

But when that didn't work, and with the Frenchville youngster beyond consolation, station officer John Hartley decided there was only one thing for it: Dallas, and the machine, would have to go to hospital.

A fireman unbolted the glass and metal container from its frame.

And so it was that 40 minutes after his curiosity and sweet tooth got the better of him, paramedics lowered him onto a stretcher, still up to his elbow in the lolly dispenser, for a 10-minute ride from Glenmore Shopping Village to the emergency room at Rockhampton Hospital.

A well-wisher gave him a chocolate frog and someone else had handed him a small red teddy bear to cuddle, but Dallas was still crying.

“I think it will be the last time he'll stick his hand in a lolly machine,” said station officer Hartley.

A hospital spokesman said Dallas was eventually extricated in the emergency department.