A group of daredevil escape artists have been rescued from an embarrassing predicament.

Linthwaite man Antony Britton and his colleagues run Escape for Life (EFL), a voluntary group staging daring escape acts to raise funds for good causes.

But their latest extravaganza looked likely to be called off after potential sponsors pulled out.

Now Barrett Steel Ltd, based at Bradford, has stepped forward to rescue the event, which will take place in September in Bradford.

EFL is keeping the exact details of the escape act secret at this stage – except to say it will involve a whole load of steel!

The September event follows a spectacular escape act by Antony on Halloween last year – the 86th anniversary of the death of legendary showman Harry Houdini.

On that occasion, Antony managed to struggle free from a straitjacket while vertically suspended by burning ropes 50ft above the River Calder at Wakefield.

Mr Britton said: “On a cold, wet October evening in 2012 we staged our first escape stunt flying the EFL banner. We’d expected it to be a small affair, but over 200 people crammed themselves on the bridges and banks of the river to witness the escape.

“We managed to raise over £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and due to the success of the event we decided to do it again this year, only bigger and better.”

He said: “It was decided that EFL 2013 would raise money for Help for Heroes and we were promised a lot of support that meant we could make it happen.

“But one by one, these promises were broken and slowly the EFL volunteers were trapped by a lack of support with no means of escape.”

Escape artist Roslyn Walker, an EFL volunteer, said: “We are a team of people made up of professional performers, escapologists, engineers and business people. We’re used to getting things done that on the face of it seem impossible.

“But when those who had promised to back us began to pull out, we all started to doubt whether our plans for this year would actually come to fruition.”

That’s when Barrett Steel bosses Steve Dykes and Chris Lamb came to the rescue by donating steelwork required for the event.

Said Antony: “Without Steve, Chris and the rest of their team at Barrett Steel, there would be no EFL 2013.

“What makes an EFL event different from any other are the escape stunts – but if we’ve not got anything to escape from then the whole thing doesn’t work. It’s like asking a chef with no eggs to make you an omelette, it just can’t happen.”

Antony, whose day job is director of internet-based estate agency Britton & Co, has been fascinated with escapology since the age of six when his grandfather entertained him with stories of the great Houdini.

Performing since his teens, Antony has escaped from being buried alive, picked his way out of handcuffs, locks and shackles and even extricated himself from a wooden crate laced with explosives and chains.