In the end bar manager Wayne Banks got there first, and released a grateful Leigh, who had been caught out reporting on a 2-1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers.

The relieved hack said: "I’d been filing my copy for the Sports Echo and the team from the Raymonds press agency had left so I expect the staff thought we were all out.

"The floodlights had gone out but there were still people milling about, or so I thought.

"It was 6.15pm and there were lights on in the executive boxes. I went to go to pack up my laptop but when I tried to get out - through the Lincolnshire Echo stand – all the doors were locked.

"It was like a ghost town. No one had bothered to see if I was still there!"

Although he was released about 20 minutes later, it could have been much worse ... his partner Sam Carmichael is expecting their first baby tomorrow.

"It’s an occupational hazard but I’ll be taking more care in the next few days," he said.