An 8-year-old's curiosity got the better of him last night when he managed to get his head stuck in a supermarket's donation box.

The boy "just put his head in for a look" at a Salvation Army food donation box at Foxton New World.

Foxton deputy chief fire officer Michael Clement said the box had quite a big opening at the top, and it was sitting about half a foot off the ground.

An off-duty fireman from Foxton Beach fire station happened to be at New World and helped the boy out of the box.

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"They squeezed him out gently," Clement said.

The 8-year-old didn't appear to be distressed when fire service arrived around 7.30pm.

"By the time we got there he was drinking a can of drink."

The boy's grandmother was "just happy he was out."

Clement has been in the fire brigade for over 30 years, and this isn't the first time he's been called out to attend to kids stuck in unusual places.

"I've seen kids stucks in trees and kids with legs stuck in bench seats."

New World Foxton has apologised to the boy's family for the distress caused.

The donation box's slot measured about 15cm by 30cm. It needed to be wide enough to deposit bigger groceries but not so wide that they could be stolen.

While no such incident has occurred before, Foodstuffs is working with the box's owners to find a solution to ensure it is not repeated.