text: Two men who became locked inside an airtight bank vault for six hours had to be dramatically rescued by firefighters using heavy drills. Jacob Church, 21, and Joe Tobin, 29, were at an art exhibition at a former bank building when the vault door shut behind them, leaving them trapped in total darkness. The pair - who had only met earlier that night - were fed water through a tube to prevent them becoming dehydrated while police kept in contact with them to check their oxygen levels were not getting dangerously low. After their six-hour ordeal, eventually fire crews with specialist drills were able to cut through the thick concrete walls. Trapped: Joe Tobin (left) and Jacob Church (right) pose for a selfie after getting trapped in the vault . Locked in: The pair - who only met earlier in the night - were shut inside the vault for almost six hours . Exhibition: The duo had attended the launch of the exhibition at the Abacus art space in Cardiff's Wood Street . Mr Church, who is from Taff's Well, has described the incident at the launch night of an exhibition at the Abacus art space in Cardiff's Wood Street as 'pretty nuts'. It was hosting the opening of the Look No Hands exhibition described by its curators as 'an eyeball massacre and a massage of visionary art.' One of the exhibition rooms was the 6m x 6m old bank vault with its thick metal door held ajar. The 21-year-old - who admits he was a 'little drunk' - went into the vault with fellow art enthusiast Mr Tobin at 1am. When he tried to close the door slightly, it shut fully and inadvertently activated the lock. He said: 'We were just in there and realised there was a really nice echo in the room. I went to shut the door a tiny bit and it shut the whole way. 'At first we sort of laughed, but when we phoned out friends to come and let us out they couldn't. 'After about 20 minutes of hearing banging on the door we realised no one could get us out. You would think someone would have the code for the door.' Rescue mission: Fire crews had to save the pair and this meant the exhibition was shut on Saturday . Light: The emergency crews managed to drill through the wall and pass the pair glow sticks and ear plugs . Although the two art enthusiasts could hear noise outside, they were unaware what was going on, but were told the fire service had been called. The first crews arrived at 1.48am and initially tried to unlock the door. But when that didn't work, they had to drill through the wall to create a hole large enough for the two men to escape. 'They tried drilling for two hours but then had to call for back-up and then more back-up,' Mr Church said. Part of Havelock Street, in Cardiff, was closed for the emergency services to access the building. The initial amusement and novelty of the situation quickly wore off, said Mr Church. 'We started off with fairly high hopes. The first few hours we were singing and running around the room and trying to make the best of it. 'After two or three hours, before there was an air hole, we started to think "Are we going to get out of here?"'. At that point, two fire engines and a specialist urban search and rescue team arrived and use drilling equipment to penetrate the thick concrete walls. The emergency crews drilled a small hole through the vault door to speak to the pair and passed them glow sticks for light and ear plugs. They then handed them a plastic tube through a hole to enable them to drink water. Strangers: Jacob Church (left) and Joe Tobin (right) were locked in the vault in total darkness for six hours . Mr Church, a former lab technician at Specsavers, added: 'We got a phone call about every half an hour from a police woman who kept asking us if our oxygen levels were OK. 'It was worrying but I told them if it does run out what can they do for us anyway?' The fire crews drilled around 15 inch-wide holes into the thick wall, which was reinforced with metal bars. They eventually created a big enough hole for the two men to crawl out unharmed at 6.45am. Exhibition curator Ariell Tye, 31, said they always kept the vault door open for 'health and safety reasons'. She said: 'Some people were messing around and have physically closed the door themselves which is pretty difficult in itself. 'They have turned the wheel lock door mechanism and couldn't get back out. We were informed immediately and phoned the emergency services straight away. 'When the two men came out they were in good spirits and were unharmed.' Ms Tye said the artists took over the former bank last June for no rent because the building will be demolished in two years to make way for the new BBC Wales headquarters. She said there was no chance of a repeat incident because the vault door was now permanently locked. A South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: 'It's an unusual one by any stretch of the imagination. 'We received a call to a premises at 1.48am. Two male persons were rescued from an internal bank vault. 'There was a limited air supply in the nature of it being a bank vault and our urban search and rescue team were called in with specialist equipment. 'There were no injuries. We were assisted by paramedics and police were also in attendance.' The gallery was closed on Saturday, but will reopen as normal on Wednesday.
target: Jacob Church, 21, and Joe Tobin, 29, were locked inside bank vault .
  6mx6m bank vault was one of the rooms on show at a Cardiff art exhibition .
  Pair only met earlier in night and inadvertently locked door behind them .
  Had to be rescued by fire crews who drilled through thick concrete walls .