FIREFIGHTERS had to rely on a little help from a passing shopper to free four people trapped in a town centre lift.

Officers arrived at JJB Sports in the Bury's Mill Gate centre and struggled to open the lift because it was a model they had not encountered before.

But help came via a passing shopper who was a lift engineer.

Bury fire station officer Paul Myserscough said: "Fortunately, standing behind us was a lift engineer. The lift was one that we had never seen before.

"It turned out that all the electronics were in the lift shaft access cupboard, which we hadn't known about."

The four people trapped in the lift for an hour on Saturday afternoon (June 14) included a young woman and a toddler in a pram. All were released unhurt.