Black pudding saved my life, says butcher who used it to free himself from locked freezer

A butcher who got stuck in a freezer owes his life to black pudding after he used a block of the blood sausage "like a battering ram" to free himself.

Chris McCabe, 70, said he thought he was going to die when he got locked inside his own walk-in freezer, which stores meat at temperatures of -20C.

With time running McCabe grabbed the only tool he could find.

He battered the lock with the frozen stick of black pudding, with it eventually giving way.

McCabe, a father of four from Totnes, Devon, said: "Black pudding saved my life, without a doubt. No one could hear me banging because it is outside, round the back of the shop.

"The black pudding was the best thing to hit the button with because it was the right shape. I used it like the police use battering rams to break door locks in, that's what I did with the black pudding.

"It was solid, pointed and I could get plenty of weight behind it. I'm lucky really - we sell about two or three each week and that was the last one in there."

McCabe said wind blew the door shut behind him and he discovered the inner door release button had frozen solid.

He looked around for something to save him, but could not find anything to de-ice the emergency release: the lamb was too big and the beef did not afford enough grip. McCabe said he had all but given up hope when he spotted the last black pudding.

The pudding was the perfect size, weight and diameter, he said.

McCabe wielded the 1.5kg stick of black pudding and hit the door-release button before managing to free himself on the third attempt.

He added: "I had rushed in. I was in a hurry as usual and I heard the door shut behind me. I thought that was OK, because I could kick the safety button from inside.

"I've been shut in before and I used the button to get out then, but this time it was frozen solid. I removed all the metal racking around it and I looked around for some thing to hit it with and I came on the idea of using a black pudding stick.

The walk-in freezer is at the back of C M McCabe Butchers in Totnes. There is no passing footfall around the freezer and no one to hear any cries for help.

McCabe said that meat is frozen solid in the freezer in just half an hour, and although he was only stuck for a few minutes, he believes he would have died within 30 minutes.