Geri HalliwellGeri Halliwell was late for a book signing at a shopping centre yesterday because she got stuck in a lift for an hour.

In what sounds like a premise of a music video, possibly for Geri’s 1999 single ‘Lift Me Up’, the Spice Girl got stuck after the lift jammed between the ground and first floor at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock, Essex.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene and used a manual crank to raise the lift and open the doors after engineers couldn’t solve the problem.

A spokesperson for the Fire Service told the Daily Mail: “Geri thanked us all for our help and was a really nice lady. There were loads of fans waiting for her so we were glad that we were able to get her out quickly so she could go and meet them.”

Geri’s children’s book ‘Ugenia Lavender’, aimed at five to eight year olds, was released in the UK last week.