FIREFIGHTERS staged a dramatic rescue when thrill-seekers became stranded 40ft in the air on a £750,000 ride at West Midland Safari Park.

A crew from Bewdley spent more than two hours manoeuvring a turntable ladder to come to the aid of two boys and a girl, thought to be in their teens, who were stuck on the Twister ride at about 2.30pm on Saturday.

A wheel had jammed on one of the cars, activating the ride's safety mechanism and bringing it to a halt.

Park spokeswoman Wendy Jackson said it was unusual for the popular ride, which was launched in 1998, to break down and that it was back in action the following day.

She said firefighters had done a "fantastic job".

Bewdley Fire Brigade sub officer Paul Gittins said: "People had been evacuated from several lower cars before we got there but three people were stuck in cars 40ft up in the air.

"They were very brave and quite happy to sit there and wait to be rescued. It wasn't raining and no-one was panicking."

Five retained Bewdley firefighters were involved in the operation, which Mr Gittins said was the first of its kind he could remember at the safari park. Two other firefghters brought a turntable ladder from Worcester.

He added the ladder had to be re-sited a couple of times due to difficulties in manoeuvring it through the rails of the ride, on one occasion knocking down part of a fence so the ladder could be moved closer to passengers.

The faulty car had been winched along the track to be repaired while the crew awaited the ladder's arrival.