Wallingford Waitrose worker rescued after three hours in lift

The Waitrose employee was stuck in the lift for three hours before he could be freed by firefighters

A Waitrose worker has been rescued by firefighters after being trapped inside a lift for nearly three hours.

The male employee became stranded in the staff lift at the Wallingford branch of the supermarket in Oxfordshire on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called at 13:20 GMT after the lift got stuck between two floors, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (OFRS) said.

A Waitrose spokeswoman said the employee was "fine".

OFRS said due to a "complete failure of the equipment" it had to access the 20-year-old man from inside the lift shaft using electric cutting and drilling equipment.

Firefighters rescued the employee using drills and cutting equipment after he was trapped for three hours

The male employee was recovered safe and well through the top of the lift and into the care of store colleagues after about 45 minutes, OFRS said.

The Waitrose spokeswoman said the man was "fine, but not working on Thursday".

The lift was only used by Waitrose partners and those with mobility issues and not for use by the general public, she added.

The fire service said the fault had been caused by a power failure in the town which had affected multiple properties.

Waitrose added: "We're grateful to the local fire service, who responded quickly after a local power cut stopped our service lift from working... the partner affected was calm and supported throughout."

The staff lift at the Waitrose in Wallingford was not for use by the general public, a spokeswoman said