'The ultimate NYE lock-in'

A group of 60 revellers were forced to spend the first three days of 2010 in a British pub after becoming stranded by snowstorms on New Year's Eve.

The guests had booked to celebrate the new year at the Tan Hill Inn, England's highest pub, at 518 metres above sea level, in the northern Yorkshire Dales.

But the relentless snowstorms that have swept through Britain trapped them inside, unable to get to their cars and leaving the roads home impassable.

"There was a lovely, community atmosphere despite the fact nobody could get home," said landlord Tracy Daly. "There are worse places to be snowed in."

A gritter and snowplough finally broke through the seven-foot snow drifts that had sealed off the hotel on Sunday, ending the revelry, dubbed Britain's longest-running New Year's Eve party by newspapers yesterday.

Daly, 45, said she, her husband and staff had kept the guests entertained and fed, and offered rooms for a knockdown price of £10 (Dh60), per night.

"We had the rule that the bar could only open at 5pm, the guests were all very well behaved though," she said. "The guests were lovely and kept giving us breaks so we didn't get too tired."

Nathan Martin, 26, one of a group from Leeds University's cross-country club stuck in the pub, described the experience in the Guardian newspaper as the "ultimate lock-in".

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