Veteran actress Dora Bryan sang All Things Bright and Beautiful to fellow shoppers trapped in a department store lift.

She tried to raise spirits as they waited to be rescued in Marks and Spencer, Western Road, Brighton, on Saturday.

Miss Bryan, 83, who played Auntie Roz in Last Of The Summer Wine, said the ordeal lasted 20 minutes and was a "nightmare".

She was trapped with eight other people, including a mother and her three-month-old baby, and a young boy who desperately needed the toilet.

Miss Bryan, of Marine Parade, Brighton, said: "It felt like hours. The baby was behaving beautifully until we all got a bit panicky and the little boy did a wee in the lift."

She had been shopping for something to wear for a performance at the Joogleberry Playhouse in Manchester Street, Brighton, on Thursday.

When a lift passenger pressed the button after the doors had closed, nothing happened.

Miss Bryan said: "We just stood there for ages and kept pressing the button but the lift didn't go anywhere. We pressed the emergency button and eventually someone answered. They kept saying the fire brigade would be there in two minutes but it seemed to take for ever.

"I started singing All Things Bright And Beautiful because I thought it would be uplifting and I got very religious and said the Lord would be looking after us.

"It was very hot in there. It really was a nasty experience."

The fire brigade had the doors open within 15 minutes.

A Marks and Spencer spokeswoman said: "We really regret this incident.

"When the customers came out they were offered water and seen by a first aider. It was hot and it must have been distressing."