Campaigners became trapped in a disability lift on their way to deliver a petition against proposed funding cuts to a disabled group.

The group proved too heavy for the lift which ground to a halt on its journey to a reception of waiting East Sussex county councillors.

Joan Pearce, who chairs the Seaford and district committee of the East Sussex Disability Association, and four others got into the specially-designed lift at the council offices in St Anne's Crescent, Lewes yesterday.

The lift is designed for disabled people and can take five passengers but fails to operate if the weight limit is exceeded.

Mrs Pearce was handing over a petition signed by 1,600 Seaford residents protesting at proposed cuts to a grant for the association's minibus service.

She was due to meet former council leader Daphne Bagshawe, who retired at the May election.

Mrs Pearce said: "There were five of us in the lift and that was the limit but obviously we were too heavy."

She said there was a button inside the lift which they pressed for assistance but no one appeared to come to their aid.

Lift passenger Alan Jones, a photographer for The Argus, read the lift company's telephone number on one of the walls and phoned the company.

He received advice about how to open the doors and helped council staff to release the passengers.

Once they were free, the party chose to walk up the stairs.

Mrs Pearce, who has a slight disability herself, said: "It didn't surprise me it got stuck.

"Anything to do with the disabled is a problem.

"We were only in there for about ten minutes and the staff should have known how to get us out.

"It would have been quite frightening if I had been in there on my own but, perhaps, it wouldn't have happened if I was on my own."

A council spokeswoman said: "The incident was the result of inappropriate use of the lift at County Hall, which was overloaded despite clear notices that people should ask reception for help before using it and the limit on number of people allowed inside at any one time.

"Once the alarm went off, security personnel radioed immediately for the key to open the lift and let people out. Although someone phoned the lift company, this was unnecessary as the matter was already being dealt with."