CLAUSTROPHOBIC Lynda Cotgreave got herself in a terrible lather after a night out in Bolton . . . getting locked inside a friend's bathroom for an hour!

Fire crews rescued Lynda, aged 46, after she woke the sleeping household by shouting and banging on the door -- with a bar of soap!

Stunned friend Karen Williams, aged 35, said: "I could hear this 'Karen, help me' coming from the bathroom but being half asleep I did not really realise what was going on. It was very funny."

The pair went back to Karen's mum's house in Victoria Street, Farnworth, at 5am on Saturday after a night in Bolton. Lynda woke early to have a shower before work but did not know that the bathroom lock had broken.

Lynda, from Bolton, said: "I went for a shower and just locked the door but I could not get out again after finishing my shower. The lock had been painted over and apparently it did not work but I didn't know."

Crews put a ladder up to the bathroom window and passed her a hammer to break the lock.

But Lynda managed to snap the latch off completely with the hammer making the tricky situation worse!

She said: "I tried everything to get out including using a bar of soap but nothing worked. "Karen came and I was shouting loudly 'I can't get out!'

"I hit the latch with the hammer but it flew off, leaving me really stuck so a fireman climbed through the window and used a saw to cut through the door.

"It was very embarrassing and I do not like being locked inside places. I get a bit claustrophobic but I wasn't late for work!"

Karen added: "We could not stop laughing but we did not know what to do and by this time she was getting a bit panicky so we had to call the firemen. We did not get in until 5am and we both had to be in work at 10am!"

And Karen's mum Hilda, aged 66, who did not know Lynda was staying the night, added: "I thought nothing of the noises. I thought it was just the children next door." A fire service spokesman said: "She was okay, but a little bit embarrassed."