BADMINTON players were locked in a sports centre after an evening game.

Friends Roger Beavil, 54, of Walters Ash, Geraint and Libby James, of Stoke Mandeville, and Rob Keyworth, of Princes Risborough, were playing badminton at Wycombe Sports Centre, on Sunday, and finished at 8pm. They were ready to leave at about 8.20pm but found they could not.

Mr Beavil said: "We went around to the reception and there wasn't anyone around and they had locked the doors already."

The group tried the push bar on the door but it failed to open so they contacted the emergency services.

Mr Beavil said: "Through the doors, we explained what had happened. We were told to try the emergency exits."

This meant going through the sports hall in darkness. They were locked in for half an hour.

Mr Beavil said: "The more we think about it, the more we feel that if there had been a fire we would really have been stuffed."

A spokesman for the centre said: "If the customers want to discuss it they can get in touch with our customer service department."