Lionel Richie fans feared being stuck 'All Night Long' in broken lift

A group of Lionel Richie fans found themselves stuck in a lift after his performance in the Welsh capital last night - but were freed before spending 'All Night Long' inside.

Around 18 fans had just finished watching the legendary singer perform as part of his 'All the Hits All Night Long' tour when they became trapped in the lift at the St David's shopping centre in Cardiff.

The Lionel lovers were stuck just yards from the Motorpoint Arena, where 5,000 fans had watched the star belt out hits including 'Dancing on the Ceiling' and 'Three Times a Lady'.

Liz Brookes from Cardiff, who runs an events management company, was among those trapped after going to see the 65-year-old singer with her mother and a friend.

She told ITV News: "As soon as we got in and the doors shut behind us, the lift juddered and there was a noise that made you think 'that doesn't sound very good'.

"We didn't move - the lift stayed on zero. We tried the alarm and 'doors open' buttons but nothing happened - and we knew we weren't going anywhere."

Liz said the lift was stuck on the ground floor so nobody felt in immediate danger, but panic started to set in when they didn't know 'How Long' they'd be inside.

She described the lift, which was standing room only, as "very cramped, very hot and very sweaty" - made worse because everyone had been dancing all night at the concert.

Almost half an hour had passed before the group was told an engineer would be with them in 20 minutes - but they decided to take matters into their own hands before getting stuck there 'Forever' and phoned the fire brigade.

They were eventually freed by fire crews after spending a total of 45 minutes in the lift.

A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue said everyone was "safe and well" after the rescue at around 11.30pm yesterday evening.

St David's Cardiff, which handed out water to the group once they had been rescued and allowed them free parking, has apologised for the incident.