Plymouth: Tweets Free Mum Locked In Church

12 August 2013, 13:20 | Updated: 12 August 2013, 13:22

A jam-maker from Plymouth who found herself locked inside a church was eventually rescued - after tweeting for help.

Sarah Greep was inadvertently imprisoned inside the city's Minster Church of St Andrew on Sunday morning when volunteers were unaware the mother-of-two was still inside. 

The 43-year-old sought to raise the alarm, but - in a sign of the times - used the microblogging site to raise the alarm. 

Mrs Greep, who tweets under the handles @SarahGreep and city-inspired business @JannerJam account, wrote: "I'm locked in inside St.Andrews Church! 

"I was in private praying chapel & when I came out, everyone was gone & doors locked. #Plymouth #help." 

"Trying to think of best way to get out of this church with minimum disruption. 

"It's quite calm & peaceful in here so in no hurry #Plymouth'' 

Mrs Greep spent the next few hours cataloguing her bid for freedom, also using her phone to find a number for the church caretaker. 

The social media-savvy businesswoman's tweets soon caught the eye of city police, who managed to track down a warden with a spare key for the door. 

Mrs Greep said she tried to phone a few telephone numbers for church volunteers on the back of a leaflet within the building but couldn't get through. 

The businesswoman said she would have had to wait another four hours for the 6.30pm service had her tweets - and a video she posted online during her stay - not been spotted by helpful locals.