A toddler appears to have succumbed to a source of frustration that has beset generations of children, after becoming stuck in a toy claw machine

Three-year-old Jamie Bracken-Murphy seemingly took matters into his own hands after losing a game at his local play centre in Tipperary.

His father claims that when his back was turned for moments, the child wriggled into the contraption through the hole which dispenses toys.

"We were in a play centre here in Nenagh and I took my eyes off him for about five seconds as he walked towards the claw machine,” father Damien told the Irish Independent.

“I then heard a muffled complaint and when I looked up, he was behind the glass of the machine.

"I tried to get him out, but it seemed like he did not have enough space to manoeuvre his way out, so I told him to be calm and wait while I got one of the staff to find the keys to the machine."

Mr Murphy said an off-duty fire fighter also happened to be in the building came to Jamie’s rescue.

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The fire fighter instructed the toddler where to move and was then able to pull him from the machine