A MOTHER who was trapped in a Bradford Interchange toilet with her three children has spoken of the traumatic experience.

Miriam Hannah and her daughters Aria, 5, and Zaynab, 4, one of which is autistic, and two-year-old son Ebrahim struggled to unlock the door of the disabled loo on the ground floor.

For 15 minutes, at around 4pm last Tuesday, the family pulled the toilet's red emergency lever several times and were banging on the door to be released.

Miriam and her children were only able to get out when another woman wanting to use the toilet unlocked the door.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which runs Bradford Interchange, has apologised for the incident.

Miriam told the Telegraph & Argus: "I pulled that red lever several times and nobody came. I was knocking on the door and shouting.

"A lady had a key so then the door opened. I went upstairs and they said they never heard the lever go off. We were in there for 15 minutes; anything could have happened.

"It was someone who needed the toilet who let us out. If that had not happened we could have been there for an hour."

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The four of them were stuck in the toilet for 15 minutesThe four of them were stuck in the toilet for 15 minutes

Miriam is just glad she or her children were not injured at the time.

She added: "If somebody was in a worse scenario, like they may have fallen out of a wheelchair, how long are they sat on that floor for before somebody helps them?

"I have now got panic to go into those toilets now. If the lever isn’t working, the toilet should be out of order. It is a potential life or death thing.

"We were okay but what if the next person isn't?"

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Miriam and her kids were panickingMiriam and her kids were panicking

The WYCA add that it was a temporary fault which has since been repaired.

A spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint from a member of the public and have looked into it further with our colleagues at Bradford Interchange. 

“On this occasion, there was a temporary fault which meant our Customer Care team were not immediately alerted to the issue and we are very sorry about this.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Bradford InterchangeBradford Interchange

“We have repaired the fault and reviewed our processes to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. 

“The team do monitor the toilet facilities at the Interchange as part of their regular duties. This must have been a very distressing experience and we offer our fullest apologies.”

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