'Flats with faulty lift not safe for my family'

A mother of a newborn baby with complex medical needs has said that faulty lifts in her block of flats have left her feeling constantly on edge.

Jayne Warner said she was frightened about getting stuck in the lifts with her 10-week-old son and three other children, in case he needed urgent medical attention.

Ms Warner, who lives on the 11th floor of Pendlebury Tower on the Lancashire Hill estate in Stockport, said: "It's not safe for us here."

Stockport Homes said it was doing everything it could to help Ms Warner and her family move to a more suitable home as quickly as possible.

Ms Warner, whose other children are aged nine, six and two, said her baby son has a nasal tube to help with breathing.

"It's scaring the life out of me," said the 32-year-old.

"He came home three weeks ago. If something happens, how is anyone going to save him?

"It's not safe for us here now. I'm scared of going out some days in case I can't get back in my flat, or if the lift breaks and we get stuck."

She said the lifts were breaking "weekly or sometimes daily" in the tower block, with the issue having gone on for some time.

A Stockport Homes spokesperson said Ms Warner's application "has been properly assessed, and we're in active contact to explore every available option for her circumstance – including mutual exchange".

"Sadly, this isn't a challenge unique to Stockport. Across the country, demand for accessible and family-sized social housing far outstrips supply – especially for households with more complex needs," they added.

In March, residents in a 15-storey tower block managed by Stockport Homes in Edgeley said they felt like "prisoners" when both lifts were broken at the same time, taking weeks to repair.

The blocks were first built in the 1960s, and some feel the estate is in need of huge investment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Reddish South councillor James Frizzell said: "Stockport Homes has been addressing these issues as they arise, but the reality is that the fabric of the buildings is old and near the end of its useful life.

"Repairs and patching up can only go so far."

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