A TODDLER got more than he bargained for when he played a joke on his mum.

Two-year-old Riley Lowe locked his mum out of the house while she was hanging washing in the garden.

The youngster was then unable to let her back in and his panicked mum had to call the fire service to get back in.

Riley bolted the door behind mum Hayley Kerr, 25, and became trapped inside the house on Harbour View Road, Portland.

One fire crew from Portland attended the scene yesterday after receiving a call from the worried mother.

Hayley said: “I had gone out to hang out washing but before I knew it Riley had bolted the lock shut on the door to our flat and locked himself in.

“He panicked and started crying because he could hear me but couldn’t see me and couldn’t get back out.

“I rang my mum first of all and then the fire service – I felt so embarrassed because it wasn’t a major fire but I didn’t know what else to do.

“The firefighters arrived so quickly – one stayed by the letterbox with me talking to Riley while others went round the back of the house and got through the bathroom window.

“I felt so embarrassed about the whole thing but the firefighters were so efficient and worked really hard to get Riley out, so I want to say a very big thank you to them.

“Obviously Riley thought it was just a game but I’m hoping nothing like this ever happens again.

“The firefighters said incidents like these are more common than people think.”

A Dorset Fire and Rescue spokesman said one fire crew was called to Harbour View Road when the mum went to get some washing from the line a young child shut the door on the inside and bolted it.

The spokesman added: “Crews turned up and got in through a bathroom window.

“We were called at 11.53am and left the scene just after midday after ensuring the child was safe.

“When someone of any age becomes stuck in a property it is quite a serious incident because if there is a fire in that property they will be trapped.

“We didn’t want anything to happen inside the property to him.”