A TEAM of firefighters earned their stripes during an unusual rescue mission at a North-East book shop.

The Darlington branch of Waterstones was hosting the launch of the children’s book, Zizu Loses His Stripes – about a little zebra who calls on the help of his friends – when the drama unfolded.

Four customers, including a child and a baby, were trapped in the lift at the shop for around ten minutes and had to be freed by fire and rescue crew manager Andy McCormick, watch manager Karl Blackburn, and firefighter Becks Lillystone.

The firefighters arrived at the store in a fire appliance and embarked on the rescue just as TV presenter Pam Royle, who has provided the voices for the audio version of the book, was preparing to do a reading alongside a life-sized Zizu zebra mascot.

Karl said: “You never know what to expect in the fire and rescue service. One minute we were doing some training at the station, the next we were at Waterstones bookshop coming face to face with a zebra!

“It was certainly an unusual call-out and we needed to act quickly because it was hot, and children were involved.”

The book was written by North-East author Peter Barron and illustrated by Darlington artist Jonathan Raiseborough.

One of those trapped was the author’s son, Chris, and his five-year-old daughter, Chloe, along with friend Yasmine Gilbert and her baby son, Finn.

Chris said: “It was a bit scary for the little ones, but the firefighters were fantastic at putting everyone at ease, before getting the door open and manually winching the lift down to the ground.”

Kim Winter-Bell, manager of the book shop, added: “It’s been a really fun day, having Zizu zebra, the author, the illustrator and Pam Royle with us. Customers have really enjoyed it – and the fire brigade was a bonus!”

Pam Royle added: “You really couldn’t make it up. Zizu Loses His Stripes is a story all about the importance of helping each other and, in the middle of the launch, we had the perfect example of that from the team of firefighters.”

Zizu zebra also made appearances at Cockerton Library and Guru Boutiue during the launch of the book, which has been commissioned by Teesside couple Maaz Rahman and Nicci Knight, who run Zizu’s Day Care and Learning Centre, in Middlesbrough.

Proceeds from the sales are going towards Zizu’s Foundation, which will provide free pre-school education for those who might otherwise miss out.