A young German man tried to show his girlfriend how much he loved her by climbing into a used clothing container to retrieve her handbag. However the young Lothario got stuck in the heavy steel flap -- and the fire brigade had to cut him free.

"It was meant to be a sort of proof of his love," police in the west German city of Bochum said in a statement. "He had been trying to fish out his girlfriend's cosmetics bag."

The man, 23, fell so far into the container that he was trapped with just his shoes sticking out of the flap. His ordeal lasted 50 minutes before firemen could free him from his metal trap. The containers, which are used to collect donated clothing for charities, are a common sight in German streets.

"He had thrown the bag in there himself, we're still not quite sure why. But he certainly gave his all to get it back," a police spokesman told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Local newspaper reporters have been calling to meet the Bochum boy who would go to such lengths for his girlfriend," he added.