Three men were trapped in a lift for more than an hour while making an inspection.
Chris Buck turned up to inspect a lift shaft and carry out waterproofing work at the Concorde 2 night spot on Brighton seafront.
Mr Buck, a director of Siteseal Services in Rotherfield, near Crowborough, stepped into the lift with Ian Pavlides of Concorde 2 and Mike Pollington.
The owners of the property are responsible for the Victorian lift, which carries people between Madeira Drive and Marine Parade.
It started ascending, then came to a halt.
Mr Buck said: "It just stopped. I've never been stuck in a lift before but no one was too worried."
One of the trio used a mobile phone to call lift engineers, who freed them.
Mr Buck said the three sat about chatting while waiting to be rescued.
He added: "It wasn't too bad. It's quite a quaint lift."
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