Workers leave cliff lift passengers stranded

Eight people were left stranded mid-air in a cliff lift for an hour and a half after its operators turned it off and went home.

The holidaymakers, including two little girls and three pensioners, were abandoned in a "very hot" carriage halfway up the South Cliff following a mix-up between staff at the top and the bottom of the Spa lift.

Each night the lift is shut down with both carriages left in the middle of the track, halfway up the cliff.



But after the eight passengers had boarded at the bottom, the operator at the top of the cliff shut down the lift for the day and both operators went home.

One of the victims had to call the fire brigade on a mobile phone, and crews dashed to the scene. It was said that there was a misunderstanding with the operator below. After eventually contacting a lift engineer, the shaken tourists were set free after enjoying the view for 90 minutes.

The incident left some passengers who were from Scotland, Norfolk and Kent, shaken. But a council chief last night said it had tried to make amends by offering various good-will gestures including free Spa theatre tickets.