Broken lift in flats 'traps' some for nine weeks

A woman living in a block of flats in Devon said she and a number of other residents were unable to leave their block for nine weeks due to a damaged lift.

Myra Hunter, 73 said she felt "trapped" and "isolated" in her fourth-floor flat at Citadel Court in Plymouth.

She said the lift, which broke in February, was a "vital part of living in the block" and she felt the fact they were left without one for so long was "not acceptable" and made her feel "vulnerable".

Sanctuary Housing, which runs the over-55s housing block, which was built in 1987 and has 38 flats, had carried out initial work to repair the lift but problems persist.

Sanctuary said it was "sorry for the disruption and the inconvenience it caused residents".

It said: "Parts have been ordered by our external contractor - we don't have in-house specialist lift engineers - and repairs will be completed as soon as they arrive."

Ms Hunter said that many residents were in their 80s and 90s and could not manage stairs anymore, adding that one neighbour could not visit his wife who lived in care.

She said: "When you come here at 55, you don't anticipate being disabled. But, as age catches up with you, you need that lift."

She added the situation was worse than when they were forced to stay in during the Covid-19 lockdown.

"To stay in because you can't get down the stairs from your apartment, it's really not good," she said.

Ms Hunter said her and her seven-year-old granddaughter had got stuck in the lift for about 10 minutes in February after it broke, but "thankfully, a manager was on site to release them".

She added, on another occasion, one resident got stuck and firefighters had to be called to get them out.

She said she felt nervous about getting into the lift because of the "constant worry" that it might break down.

Ms Hunter said the information given to the residents by Sanctuary was "very sporadic" and "contradictory" and left her feeling that "nobody cared".

"We need to know what's going on," she said.

"We all own the flats, we need openness and honesty."

Sanctuary said: "We are also going to look at the wider issues relating to the lift because we understand and share the residents' frustration."

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