Drama as elderly pair get stuck in Bridgnorth church lift
A Sunday service at a village church took a dramatic turn when fire crews had to be called out to release two parishioners who got stuck in a lift.
Members of the congregation had gathered around to try and free the elderly pair, who became stuck in a modern access lift leading up to the 11th century St Mary Magdalene Church – but nobody could budge the device and there were mounting fears for the wellbeing of the pair inside.
Firefighters arrived on the scene in Quatford, near Bridgnorth, about 20 minutes after yesterday's 9am service was due to start, and used small gear equipment to free the trapped parishioners.
Reverend Liz Angel, who was able to lead the service after the two parishioners had been freed, said the lift had been installed within the past 10 years at the church to help elderly people avoid a steep climb up 32 steps to the church entrance
The church itself was founded in 1085, when it was the original parish church for Bridgnorth, and still has some of the original masonry.
Rev Angel said: "There is an external lift up to the church, because there are about 32 steps.
"It was installed as, with an ageing congregation, and people who come for social events like concerts, funerals and weddings, it was decided we needed to provide access for people who cannot manage the steps."
She said though the lift was electric, there was a manual winch which some of the congregation rallied round to try to use – but it was so stiff that the not much could be done until the team of burly firemen arrived with equipment, to the relief of those gathered.
"The lift is windable so people were trying to wind it down," Rev Angel said. "But the strength required was so much that ordinary human beings were struggling to do it."
She said because of the age of the trapped parishioners and the heat there were worries for their safety.
"The rest of the congregation were very concerned, as was I as the vicar, and the church wardens," she said. "But the firemen came along and did it really easily."
"We think it was an electrical fault, we don't think it was to do with the hot weather," she said. "The lift engineers came and said it seemed to have had some kind of power failure."
The service went ahead as planned.
