Group trapped in tower lift freed

Rescue teams used an emergency bridge to free those trapped

Fire crews had to free 10 people trapped in a lift at the Glasgow Science Tower for five hours.

It became stuck almost midway up the 105-metre rotating tower at about 1530GMT on Saturday.

It is believed the incident was caused when one of the lift cables snapped, triggering the emergency brake.

Fire crews cut panels in the tower and led the six adults and four children across a ladder to safety at 2040GMT. None of them had been injured.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said a member of the centre's staff was among those trapped in the incident.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire Brigade said: "The only option we had to access the people was to cut through some panels in the tower.

"Crews then led them to safety on an emergency bridge leading to an internal stairwell which they were then able to step down."

'Contingency plan'

Glasgow Science Centre Chief Executive, Kirk Ramsay, said an investigation has been launched.

He said: "We can confirm that one of our lifts stopped on descent of the Glasgow Tower around 3.30pm.

"Several hours later, everybody was brought down safe and well in a Science Centre contingency plan executed by the Fire Brigade.

"We are investigating why this has happened but we can also confirm that both lifts were affected."

The tower has been plagued with problems. It was closed in February 2002 after it sank because of damage to two bearings in the rotating base mechanism.

The tower was recently shut down again for maintenance after reopening in September.