Pub aficionados must have thought they had died and gone to heaven. For three nights, drinkers at the Tan Hill Inn, Britain’s highest pub, have been trapped inside with beer, food and an Oasis tribute band for entertainment.

       The pub’s manager said the 60-odd guests and staff had become one “big happy family” after being cut off by huge snow drifts since Friday evening. They survived Storm Arwen by playing board games, performing karaoke classics and watching comedies on a projector screen.

       Yesterday evening, the pubgoers helped the staff put up Christmas decorations after a lazy, late breakfast and a Sunday roast served at a leisurely 5pm. Sleeping arrangements have been trickier with makeshift beds on the floor of the lounge and customers also on sofas or else sharing beds in nine guest rooms.

       Nicola Townsend, 51, who has worked at the pub for more than a decade, spoke of her relief that they had been stuck with Noasis, a tribute band, rather than the real thing - since 72 hours with Liam Gallagher, one of the notorious bad boys of Britpop, may not have passed quite so peacefully. Even the four dogs trapped in the pub behaved themselves.

       Set in the Yorkshire Dales, the Tan Hill Inn, at 1,732 feet above sea level, is prone to the very occasional snow storm although Ms Townsend, who has worked there for 12 years, said the last time she recalled it being cut off was New Year’s Eve 2010.

       “It is like having a very large group of friends round for dinner,” she said. “You couldn’t have picked better people to be snowed in with. Spirits have been really high. They've formed quite a friendship - like a big family is the best way I can describe it. One lady actually said 'I don't want to leave'."

       Ms Townsend said the Noasis band had played on Friday night and since then had been mucking in with kitchen and washing up duties as well as the odd impromptu acoustic set.

       “I’m relieved it’s Noasis rather than Oasis,” she said, adding that all remained jolly heading into the third night. “I have not heard of any marriage proposals but I’ve not heard of any divorces either.” On Saturday night a whip round for staff raised ￡300, presented to them in cash as a way of thank you.

       Originally there were 61 people trapped but mountain rescue services reached the pub on Saturday and ‘collected’ one person with an ongoing health condition who needed treatment while a handful of others managed to escape in 4x4s driven by off-road enthusiasts.

       The snow drifts reached first-floor windows and a tunnel had to be dug out of the front door of the pub to allow people to stretch their legs outside and give the dogs a run around. The pub remains cut off completely in one direction due to a fallen power line blocking the road while other routes out remain too dangerous to negotiate.

       "The blizzards were horrendous, how the snow was drifting, it was going all the way up to almost the bedroom windows," said Ms Townsend.

       Whether the mood will remain so buoyant if they go into a fourth night is unclear - although drink and food supplies are plentiful. A Queen tribute act had been booked for Saturday, which meant the pub was well stocked.