When a tweet works better than a prayer

Why seek help the traditional way when modern technology can help you out of a tight spot? Photo / Thinkstock

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

Sarah Greep, from Plymouth, 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.

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"

She later added: "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"

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

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

Greep said: "I realised I was locked in so I started going through my phone book, thinking of all the people I could contact.

"I didn't want to bother anyone so I just started tweeting."

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.

She said: "I tried the doors but they were locked. I spotted some wine, too - I thought God probably wouldn't mind if I had some, if it really came to it, but in the end someone came and rescued me."

The businesswoman said she would have had to wait another four hours for the 6.30pm service had her tweets not been spotted by helpful locals.

She added: "I can't think of many better places to be stuck. It was so peaceful, I was all by myself, the sun was shining through the window - though I wouldn't have been quite so calm at night."

- PA