An elderly woman has been rescued from a notorious Swadlincote lift after almost two hours being trapped.

Witnesses to the incident say an 89-year-old woman was freed from the lift in High Street, by firefighters after it got stuck between the two levels.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that firefighters were sent out the the scene at 12.50pm to reports that the lift had broken down, and that a person was trapped inside.

One witness, who did not wish to give his name, said: "There has been quite a lot of anti-social behaviour there. With the kids being off school, I don't know if that has had an impact on it at all.

"The kids are going up and down in the lift, messing around or jumping inside it. The problem is, it is never them who get stuck; it's the vulnerable people, like it was today. It was an elderly woman from what I have been told.

"She seemed OK when she was freed from it. She went into Cafe Espresso and the staff sat her down and gave her a cup of tea. I hope she's OK."

Another witness told the Burton Mail that the manager of Morrisons supermarket was at the scene, talking to the woman while she was trapped and reassuring her.

The woman, who did not wish to be named added: "From what I heard, it was an elderly lady. I really don't know much because I was in my room at the time but the fire brigade was here."

A spokesman for Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "A crew from Swadlincote were attendance at the scene with the lift engineer rescued one person stuck."

The engineer remained at the scene to carry out repair works on the lift.

It is the second time firefighters have been called out this year, after the lift has broken down, leaving people trapped.

Another lift, between Morrisons and the Pipeworks retail development, has also been having problems, prompting two calls to firefighters to rescue people stuck inside.