'Tell my wife I love her': Seven rugby players stuck in lift after breaking weight limit

Seven professional rugby players had to be rescued when they got stuck in a hotel lift - because they broke the weight limit.

The seven men from Sale Sharks included Wales' scrum half Mike Phillips, South African prop Brian Mujati and Samoan centre Johnny Leota.

The other four were flanker David Seymour, wing Paulo Odogwu, one-time Wales international Eifion Lewis-Roberts and Halani 'Aulika.

But together they tipped the scales at 755kg - more than 120kg above the maximum weight limit in the lift at the Hilton hotel in Bath, Somerset.

As a result it got stuck half-way between the reception and the first floor and the players had to call for help.

They spent an hour and a quarter trapped inside the cramped compartment while a fire crew and an engineer were called out.

The players managed to prise open the lift doors and were handed bottles of water, coffee and sandwiches as temperatures rose inside.

Mujati filmed the drama on his mobile phone and at one point Leota jokingly wrote 'Tell My Wife I Love Her' in the condensation forming on the metal interior of the lift.

The players remained in high spirits and were heard laughing that their combined weight could have caused the lift to buckle.

The players spent an hour and a quarter trapped inside the cramped compartment while a fire crew and an engineer were called out. Photo / WalesOnline

One is recorded saying: "This is nobody's fault but our own because we've overloaded the thing."

The six were eventually freed around 2.50pm on Saturday October 7 - in plenty of time before their game against Bath at 7.45 evening.

But the Aviva Premiership match also proved to be a big let down for the team who were soundly beaten 30-3.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said: "We received a call at 1.35pm to reports of seven people trapped in a lift between the ground and first floor.

"It was the Hilton Bath city hotel on Walcot Street. We had an engineer in attendance and they were released at 2.50pm."