By Andrew Starke
Seven people have been rescued from a British pub after spending nine days trapped inside after giant snow drifts engulfed the building.
Five staff members and two local residents were caught at the Lion Inn in Blakey Ridge, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire when a snowstorm hit the pub, blocking doors and windows with heavy snow and cutting it off from the nearest town.
They were finally rescued from the Lion, the forth-highest pub in England, on Saturday (Dec 4) when a snow plough was able to make its way over the North York moors.
The UK’s Daily Mail reported that the seven remained in high spirits throughout the ordeal by eating, drinking and playing games at the huge bar that often serves 150 customers a night.
Waitress Katie Underwood,18, said the experience was novel at and quite exciting at first.
“The snow is immense. Most of the windows in here are blocked up, but we’ve got a door open at the back to get some air when we need to,” she told the Daily Mail while they were still trapped.
“It’s been freezing, but we’ve been lucky that it’s a pub and B&B we’re trapped in.
“We’ve got plenty of coal for our fire, which has been great, and there are rooms upstairs so we have somewhere to sleep, and plenty of food.
‘We never imagined it would be for this long. We’ve been having a lot of fun – most nights we’ve been playing Monopoly or another board game, as well as keeping a beverage close by for warmth!’
The Lion’s landlord and landlady missed being trapped in their pub as they were at their home five miles away when the drifts hit.