FIREFIGHTERS performed a dramatic rescue when 16 people were trapped in a lift for 40 minutes.

The crew from York fire station had to prise open the doors of the lift at York railway station, using heavy machinery to free the trapped passengers. They then had to help them down to the ground from the lift, which had stopped more than a foot above ground level.

The 16 had been trapped in the lift for about 40 minutes at about noon yesterday.

The passengers included one child and two elderly people.

The maximum capacity of the lift is 24.

"It was the most dramatic lift rescue I have ever had to deal with," said Station Officer Stuart Simpson. "We have to carry out lift rescues quite regularly, but there are usually only a couple of people in there.

"This time there were 16, which was really unusual for me.

"But despite the number of people, they were all on the whole fairly calm, and if they had been there for 40 minutes it is a credit to them."

Station Officer Simpson said the rescue was made more difficult due to the layout of the station which meant they had to park more than a hundred metres away from the lift.

They then had to carry the heavy opening machinery all the way across the busy platform before they could begin to free the passengers.

"I am always proud of my firefighters, but they did perform very well today," said Station Officer Simpson.

All the emergency services attended the scene, with the British Transport Police and ambulance service being called in to help with the rescue.

A paramedic rapid response vehicle and an ambulance attended to check over all of the passengers as they were released, with firefighters particularly concerned about the elderly people.

Station operators GNER apologised for the incident and expressed concern."We are very sorry it happened, the lift is usually reliable and is regularly checked and maintained," said a spokesman. "We will be investigating the reasons why this happened, and once again are very sorry, it is not something that happens very often."

Updated: 11:01 Friday, July 25, 2003