Glenda Armstrong yesterday relived her ordeal after the lift stalled at Chichester Metro Station – leaving the 76-year-old panic-stricken inside.

Miss Armstrong was on an early morning shopping trip to South Shields from her home in the town's Northfield Road earlier this month.

And as soon as she entered the lift in the station, it stalled.

She said: "I started pressing the buttons, but nothing was happening and that's when I pressed the emergency alarm.

"Someone in the control room said help would be on its way, but I don't mind saying I was petrified."

Miss Armstrong was full of praise for the firefighters from South Shields who arrived to release her.

She said: "They wanted to have me checked out at hospital but I told them I was OK. I just wanted to get home.

"The officers carried me and my buggy upstairs. They were very kind."
But the incident hasn't put the plucky pensioner off using the station's lift.

A Nexus spokesman said: "We're very sorry to hear about Glenda's experience, and we're glad to hear it hasn't put her off using the Metro.

"Lifts do very occasionally break down and we get there as quick as we can when that happens – our computer control system tells us automatically when there's a problem.

"On this occasion we had the lift fixed in just about half an hour – though Glenda was helped out much sooner than that by the fire brigade."