EIGHT people were rescued from a jammed hospital lift after being trapped for 20 minutes.

The lift at Queen's Park Hospital stopped short of fourth floor -- blocking the doors shut and trapping seven adults and one toddler inside.

Fire crews were called to the scene and managed to release the doors by shutting the system down.

They used a special key to open the doors and helped the passengers step down to safety.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "They are relatively new buildings and I am not aware of it happening before.

"The procedure was followed and the fire brigade were called. Everyone was released as quickly as possible and no one was hurt.

"The technical staff will be looking at what went wrong."

Station Officer Andrew Barns, at Blackburn Station, said: "They were very lucky because we managed to use the key to override the doors and get them open.

"As soon as the sensors detect that the lift is not in line with the floor they will not open.

"Otherwise, we would have had to manually move the lift from the transformer room above, but the passengers were all in high spirits and were released after 20 minutes on Saturday."