Toy shop chain Bart Smit has been fined €27,000 after a mother and baby were trapped in a lift shaft while out shopping.

The incident happened because the lift doors were not closed properly while the cabin was being cleaned on another floor. The woman pushed the child’s buggy into the shaft and then became trapped there as the lift descended towards her head. It stopped just 50cm above the ground when it was jammed by the buggy.

Other people in the shop wrenched the doors open and free the woman and her one-year-old baby, who was slightly injured.

The social affairs inspectorate, which imposed the fine, ruled that the company had not done enough to protect shoppers and that the accident could have been avoided if staff had followed the lift manufacturer’s instructions.