Geri Halliwell was at a book signing yesterday at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex for her new children’s book ‘Ugenia Lavender.

While fans and photographers were waiting for the 35-year-old to arrive, they were told there had been “an incident”, little did they know that Ms. Halliwell was trapped in an elevator with four other people and had to be rescued by firefighters.

The singer finally arrived after being released dressed in leopard-print shorts and a purple t-shirt, and explained to the children waiting “I got stuck in a lift”.

Speaking for the firefighters, Sub Officer Dan Hyatt said “Geri thanked us all for our help and was a really nice lady.  There were loads of fans waiting for her so we were glad that we were able to get her out quickly so she could go and meet them.”

Geri’s book, Ugenia Lavender, is the first in a series of six books written for 5-8-year-old’s, with the main character being a fictional version of herself.

It was claimed that Geri started writing the books when she was pregnant with her daughter, Bluebell Madonna, and a friend urged her to do something with them after shelving them for a couple of years.

One story from the singer’s collection will be published every month until October after signing a deal with publishers Macmillan in 2007.