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FURIOUS disabled and elderly residents were left “trapped” in a tower block for days and “unable to go out for food” after the lift broke down.
Residents of the flats in Collyhurst, Greater Manchester, say they were confined in the tower block without fresh air for FOUR days.
Mary Ross, 84, struggled to leave her flat for four days after the lift broke down[/caption]
Residents at Humphries Court are furious after the lengthy delay in fixing the problem[/caption]
Tenants suffering from “serious mobility issues” were either stuck in their homes or faced tackling dangerous “slippy stairs” to leave.
The accommodation has two lifts, with one travelling to even-numbered floors and the other to odd-numbered.
But when one of the elevators at Humphries Court broke down, it left half of the residents stranded in their flats.
Livid locals say those brave enough were forced to “negotiate heavy doors and slippy stairs” as they waited for repairs.
Despite lodging numerous complaints to Manchester City Council, tenants were still trapped “inside all weekend”.
North Manchester’s council homes emergency repair centre had faltered on their promise to get the problem fixed on Thursday.
Anthony Ross, 58, who is looking after 84-year-old mother Mary following her stint in hospital, said the delay was “unacceptable.”
Although he bombarded Northwards Housing, which runs North Manchester’s council homes, and Manchester City Council, with complaints, it took days to resolve the breakdown.
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He told the Manchester Evening News that his elderly mother, who has severe mobility issues, was advised by her physiotherapist to complete some exercise to aid her recovery.
But fragile Mary had to tackle the staircase just to escape the tower block.
Anthony claims he was repeatedly fobbed off with excuses as he and several other residents raised concerns about the lift.
He explained: “Residents were told that engineers were waiting for a part, but the lift would be fixed before the weekend, even if it meant working through the night.”
The 58-year-old told how even able-bodied residents struggled without a lift.
“Bringing heavy bags of shopping, or having deliveries of furniture, is a very precarious situation having to negotiate several doors and passageways to get to their apartments,” he said.
“And these slippy painted staircases are impossible for the elderly or disabled to use with walkers or wheelchairs.
“We’ve got a lot of older people that live here, it’s quite dangerous for them. Part of my mum’s physiotherapy is to get up and about.
They’re quite modern lifts, it shouldn’t be this difficult to get parts and keep them maintained. There’s no excuse.
Anthony Ross
“She just wasn’t able to get out because the lift was down. She ended up saying ‘I’ll just have to negotiate the stairs’.”
The lift was finally fixed on Monday morning, but residents were left angered by the long-winded repair process.
Anthony continued: “It’s unacceptable in a block like this, where there’s one lift that services odd floors and another that services the even floors.
“Anyone that lives on the affected floors can’t get out, no fresh air.
“They’re quite modern lifts, it shouldn’t be this difficult to get parts and keep them maintained. There’s no excuse.”
He has demanded that the tower block becomes a priority for repairs, claiming it is the third time a lift has broken down in the last year.
He added that parts for these lifts should be kept “on the shelf” rather than “having to wait for parts to arrive from some distributor.”
A Manchester City Council spokesperson has promised that the two lifts will both soon serve all floors.
They said in a statement: “We were alerted to the breakdown of one of the lifts on Thursday last week (April 7) due to a failed part.
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“This part has now been received and we can confirm that the lift has been repaired.
“Refurbishment plans are in place for this financial year that will upgrade the two lifts so that both serve all floors – rather than one servicing odd floors and the other even, which is currently the case.”
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