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Spice Girl Calls on Firefighters for Help

UK – A group of firefighters got a pleasant surprise when they turned up to release people trapped in a lift – one of them was Geri Halliwell.

The former Ginger Spice was one of five left stranded in a shopping centre. The 35-year-old was there to sign copies of her new children’s book, Ugenia Lavender.

Waiting fans and photographers were told that there had been “an incident” but had no idea that the singer was stuck in the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex.

When Miss Halliwell was eventually released she arrived at the signing in WH Smith all smiles, dressed in leopard-print shorts and a purple top.

She explained the delay by telling the waiting children: “I got stuck in a lift.”

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said finding Miss Halliwell in the stranded lift with four other people had been a surprise.

Sub Officer Dan Hyatt said: “Geri thanked us all for our help and was a really nice lady. There were loads of fans waiting for her so we were glad that we were able to get her out quickly so she could go and meet them.”

Ugenia Lavender is the first in a series of six books aimed at five to eight-year-olds inspired by Miss Halliwell’s pregnancy with daughter Bluebell Madonna.

The character is a fictional girl version of herself and the stories have been highly anticipated since she signed a deal with publishers Macmillan last year.

She said to the BBC last month: “I’ve really pulled myself into it. I actually feel like she (Ugenia) is a rebirth of girl power.”

The mother-of-one claims she started writing children’s stories when she was pregnant with daughter Bluebell Madonna in Los Angeles.

She shelved the stories until a couple of years ago when a friend urged her to do something with them.

She said to the corporation: “I showed them to a friend and he encouraged me to pick the idea up again and said I should show them to publishers, which I did.

“One of the publishers said, ‘Look, we really love this. Can you write 18 stories, six books?’”

There will be one story from the star’s collection published every month until October.

© 2008 Yellowbrix, Inc.

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