PANTO star Jim Davidson could have done with a magic lamp when he and his girlfriend got stuck in a lift.

Instead, it was Southampton firemen who came to his rescue - and yesterday Jim thanked them with a presentation of tickets to his show.

The 50-year-old comedian and actor, currently playing the title role in Aladdin at The Mayflower, was returning to his waterfront flat with girlfriend Michelle Cotton early on New Year's Day when the lift broke down.

The couple were eventually rescued by a crew from St Mary's fire station, who had to lower the lift to the ground floor before freeing them.

"Jim was going to climb out of the escape hatch in the ceiling but there wasn't one, so he pressed the alarm instead," said a fire spokesman.

"When they got the doors open there was a cry of 'Oh, it's you!' Jim was extremely grateful and pleased to be able to come and say thank you to the firefighters."

This was not the first time the firefighters had helped Jim out, having loaned a hose and nozzle for use in Aladdin.

Producers of the show, which Jim has also written and directed, had to borrow props from other sources after many of the originals proved unusable.

Aladdin is at The Mayflower until February 1. Jim is performing a one-off charity comedy show in memory of murdered Leeds policeman Ian Broadhurst on Monday, 2nd February and returns from April 6-10 with his adults-only pantomime, Sinderella. Box office: 023 8071 1811.