The head of a Stevenage school for children with special needs has praised the resilience of two pupils and a member of staff who were trapped in a lift for about an hour on Tuesday.

The lift at The Valley School came to a stop about 5cm above floor level – meaning the locks and bolts were not released – at around 10.30am that morning.

A lift engineer and the fire service worked together to cut open the lift and get the trapped trio out by 11.45am, with the trapped trio spoken to and passed drinks in the meantime through a glass panel removed from the door.

Corina Foster, head of the school in Valley Way, said: “We are very proud of the resilience of the students and member of staff. We were able to remove a glass panel in the door so that we could pass drinks to them, talk to them and keep them calm. They maintained high spirits all the way through.

“We had a lift engineer and the fire service here and between them they managed to cut open the lift, although it was a very lengthy and complicated process.

“Our detailed knowledge of our pupils, and their needs, allowed us to support them well during this incident. We will continue to monitor the students in case they need additional support.”