A PLUCKY five-year-old girl, whose head was impaled on a four-inch nail for nearly two hours was freed thanks to the emergency services, community spirit and a pair of scissors.

Eleanor Jenkins is recovering well after the seven-foot tumble from a tree, which saw her fall straight on to the nail on Tuesday morning.

The St Joseph's RC School pupil had been playing in a home-made den outside her home in Wasdale Close, Warndon, when she fell on the sharp point, sticking from a plank of wood.

It pierced the skin just above her ear, ran up the side of her skull and luckily avoided penetrating her brain.

Fire officers, ambulance crews and neighbours kept Eleanor calm in an attempt to saw off the plank and take her to hospital.

But it was the thought of having her hair cut which started the St Joseph's RC School pupil screaming and kicking and she wriggled free from the nail. The wound was then glued together at Worcestershire Royal hospital.

Relieved mother Emma Sones, had nothing but praise for the emergency services and the community who rallied round to help her.

"I could hear Eleanor screaming. I ran across to pick her up in my arms as any mum would, but luckily my neighbour, Steve Hinton, stopped me," she said.

"He felt round the back of her head, discovered the nail and then held her head still throughout the whole ordeal - I can't thank him enough."

Eleanor's school-teacher and nearby neighbour, Beth Lane, also heard the screams and kept her calm for more than an hour by singing songs.

"The community and emergency services were brilliant," said Ms Sones.

"But Eleanor loves her blonde hair, and when a nurse, who was just about to sedate her said she needed to cut it, she wriggled free.

"We were so lucky the nail wasn't in her brain."

Since the incident, Eleanor has been inundated with presents and get-well messages from kind-hearted estate residents.