Two teenage girls have vowed never to step foot in a lift again after their cry for help went unheard for almost an hour at a town centre department store.
Caitlin Murphy and Ellie Cranston, both 13, visited Debenhams in Middlesbrough town centre on Sunday February 15 when they became stuck in the store’s lift.
Caitlin, of Park End, said: “We had gone for something to eat in town and then we went to have a look around.
“We went in Debenhams. When we wanted to get back downstairs we went in the lift.”
Once the doors on the lift had shut, it began to move but then stopped and plunged into darkness.
Caitlin, who attends Ormesby School, said: “It said on the screen, no service. We pressed the bell.
“It was loud in the lift but no one was answering. We started to panic.”
As well as being in total darkness, the girls remember the lift getting very hot, filling them with fear that it was going to set on fire. They even thought at one point that they “were going to die.”
Having waited around 40 minutes for help by store staff, the girls felt they had no other option but to call 999.
Caitlin said: “My phone battery was only on 9%. I rang the fire brigade and they told us to ring the bell but I told them we already had.
“They were there in five minutes.”
The girls spoke of how they were scared when they were made to squeeze through a small gap as a result of the lift getting stuck between floors.
Cleveland Fire Brigade confirmed that a call was received at 3.26pm on Sunday.
Two appliances from Middlesbrough station attended and released two people from a lift. The appliances left the scene at 4.14pm.
Following the traumatic experience, Caitlin said: “I won’t get in a lift again.”
Ellie, from Pallister Park, added: “I didn’t know how we were going to get out.
“I am not going in one again.”
Caitlin’s mum, Lindsey Woodier, 28, said: “I was mortified when I heard.
“The thought of them being scared and stuck in a lift makes me feel physically sick.
“What if the store had closed and they were trapped in there.
“Caitlin usually goes to her friend’s house so even if I had phoned the police to say my daughter was missing they would never have thought to look in a lift.
“Something needs to be done about the security in the store.
“I would like to thank the fire service for their quick response and for the operator on the phone for calming them down.”
Debenhams declined to comment on the incident.
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