A London Fire Brigade official blamed E.L. James' erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" for the dramatic rise in the number of handcuff incidents in London.

E.L. James' erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" created heat waves across the globe and was a selling sensation. However, with all the great acclamation also came some criticism. Many thought that the book was gruesome and negatively influenced young adults and housewives. The book was also removed from many college libraries.

Now, in a new report, London Fire Brigade official blamed the erotic novel for the dramatic rise in the number of handcuff incidents in the city. According to third officer Dave Brown, 79 such incidents have been reported in the past three years and urged people to "always keep the keys handy".

"Some of the incidents our firefighters are called out to could be prevented with a little common sense," Brown said. "I don't know whether it's the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up. I'm sure most people will be fifty shades of red by the time our crews arrive to free them."

Brown reports the Brigade has been called more than 1,300 incidents involving people being trapped or stuck, often in everyday household items since 2010.

"I'd like to remind everyone that 999 is an emergency number and should only be used as such. When firefighters are out attending to some of these avoidable incidents, someone else could be in real need of emergency assistance," Brown adds. "If there's a genuine emergency, fire crews will of course attend and will be on the scene to help within minutes."