Friends were yesterday anxiously waiting to hear if six Clacton holidaymakers were involved in a dramatic cable car rescue in Norway.

A group of passengers from the Splendour of the Seas cruise ship were stranded for almost eight hours on two cable cars which broke down 150ft above ground.

Three couples from Clacton, who sailed with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines from Harwich last week, were among the cruise passengers.

Yesterday friend Brian Pammenter, of Tudor Green, Jaywick, was waiting anxiously to hear if they had been involved in the dramatic rescue.

Tony and Valerie Kitchingham, Colin and Gill Hawkins and John and Jean Cross, all from Clacton, were on the two-week cruise touring the Norwegian Fjords.

Seven Britons were among a group of 40 passengers stuck on top of a mountain while another 40 Spanish, American and Mexican tourists were trapped in cable cars.

The tourists were on a trip to the slopes of a mountain near Tromso, western Norway, when the cable cars' engines stopped and could not be started again.

The passengers stranded on top of the mountain were airlifted down.

Witnesses said 15-20 passengers were winched to safety by harnesses on the cable cars before the equipment seized up.

A mountain rescue team climbed ropes lowered from the cars and helped the remaining passengers to safety using harnesses.

The Fjellheisen Lift Service, which runs the cars, was holding an inquiry into the incident.

Mark Ittle, shore excursion director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, said: "We sent 14 people from the ship to the scene loaded with supplies to try to keep our guests comfortable while they were rescued.

"It was a very slow process because the mountain rescue people had to come from quite a long way away but everybody was fine.

"They all eventually rejoined the ship and it set sail for its next port of call, albeit seven and a half hours late."

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