THREE elderly women were left shaken after being trapped for “over an hour” in a lift without communication with the outside world.

Glenda Nicholson spoke of her 80-year-old mother-in-law Patricia Nicholson’s ordeal in the lift at Marks & Spencer, in the Howard Centre, WGC on Sunday.

She said Mrs Nicholson and her sister Kath Avery who lives in WGC, were stuck along with another elderly woman.

And after pressing an emergency button there was no contact with anyone outside.

She told the WHT: “Over an hour they were trapped in there and there was no feedback after they pressed the buzzer, no one got back to them.

“It was absolutely terrible, they were really shook up, she [my mother-in-law] was with her sister who is 74 and there was another woman who apparently only got the lift to get to the toilet.”

She added: “The major problem was lack of communication.

“They kept pressing the help button but were transferred to a call centre that was busy so they did not know anybody knew they were there.

“It was a most frightening experience for them, there was no voice to say they were trying to get them out, they were just left in limbo until the fire brigade lifted them up and had to break the door.”

A spokeswoman for Herts Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called at 12.30pm to M&S and sent one fire engine from WGC and we released them.”

She said the women were freed at 12.50pm.

A spokesman for M&S said: “Three customers were in our customer lift for one hour when it stopped between floors.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience on Sunday.”

She added: “Engineers are currently working to ensure the lift is returned to full working order.”