'Being stuck in Blackpool Tower lift left me broken'

A woman who was stuck in a broken down lift in Blackpool Tower for nearly five hours said she had "a very different experience" to those trapped at the top.

Stranded at over 500 ft (158 m), 40 visitors were given blankets and offered free food and drink from the cafe until engineers managed to fix the problem on Sunday.

But Emily Szpala who was stuck in the lift with 14 other people, said: "We didn't have access to a toilet. We didn't have air. We couldn't sit down. The windows on the lift didn't open. I was screaming and asking for them to get us some air."

Blackpool Tower said it understood it had been a "difficult situation" but had worked as quickly as possible to resolve it.

Emily, from Derbyshire, who was in the resort for the weekend with her partner Colin Hilton, said it "was just a really uncomfortable situation to be in".

"The condensation in the lift was just getting worse and worse and worse."

She added those at the top "weren't confined in a space, they had air", adding: "They were singing, they were eating, they were drinking, they were walking around, they could have a wee.

"We were stuck in this lift with no facilities.

"So that was hard for us to listen to."

She said listening to the "party" at the top of the Tower was "a very big kick in the teeth for us when we went through what we went through."

Emily said there was also a child and two members of staff in the stuck lift.

"The staff were trying to communicate what was going on, but we had to keep asking for updates," she said.

"When the engineer did eventually come, which was at the fourth hour mark but they got the people from the top first.

"We could hear heard people getting out of the lift going,' yay, we're out, we're free'.

"And we were still trapped.

"When we came out of the lift, we were all traumatised, dehydrated, broken.

"And we were all literally losing our marbles."

Emily said she is type 1 diabetic and has endometriosis, and was worried the incident could have lasting damage to her health.

She was due to go home on the Sunday afternoon, but stayed another night "due to the trauma" after the Tower paid to put them up in a hotel.

"We've been offered complimentary tickets for all the different sightseeing things," she said, "but we don't live in Blackpool, so it's not ideal really."

A spokesperson for Blackpool Tower said: "We fully understand how difficult the situation was for guests on Sunday afternoon, and we want to reassure everyone that every decision taken was guided by the safety and well-being of those involved.

"Our team members in the lift provided constant communication with guests throughout the incident, providing updates as they received them. Unfortunately, the engineers took longer than anticipated to arrive on site.

"The engineers who service the Tower lifts work with this equipment every day, and they are highly experienced in managing situations of this nature. Once on site, they worked as quickly and safely as possible to resolve the issue."

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