An ordinary visit to York Minster took on an unusual turn over the Easter break when a six-year-old boy got his finger stuck in a cathedral donation box.

Oliver Hallidie Smith was at the Minster with family when he innocently put his finger into the donation box hole.

While most church donation boxes have rectangular slots to insert change, the donation box in which Oliver became trapped was designed for rolled up notes and had a small circular hole cut out in the middle.

His family and cathedral staff spent 40 minutes trying to free him, the Daily Mail reports.

Staff even tried a piece of soap in an attempt to ease his finger out. In the end, a carpenter had to be called in to cut through the plastic trapping his finger.

As a memento, staff at the cathedral let him keep part of the dismantled donation box.

Oliver’s father, Mark, said: “He is always very inquisitive and I think he put his finger in one of the donation boxes and that was fine. He put his finger in the one for notes, only he got it completely stuck.

“I think he was initially in a state of shock but then we had a bit of a laugh about it. We have written stories about it and he has been telling people what happened.”