Hotel owner survives four days stuck in lift

A man used his military training to survive spending four days in a lift, after he was stuck in the enclosed space when it broke down.

Thomas Fleetwood became trapped in the lift at the Hotel Eden in Austria after using it to travel to the ground floor, and his problems increased when he realised he was the only person in the building.

He had forgotten his mobile phone at the time of the incident, meaning he could not even call for help.

Mr Fleetwood, who is from Sweden, said the lift has never broken down before and the prospect of it doing so had not been on his mind.

"I broke a small glass panel at the front door of the lift and that gave me some fresh air, and I tried to take off the roof of the lift to climb out," he explained.

He was only saved when a friend noticed a pile of letters building at the door and called the fire service to enter the building.