Residents living on the Pleydell estate in Old Street say lift failures are forcing them to walk up to 192 steps to get to their homes – they may have to wait two years for them to be replaced

AN estate with two blocks – both 16 storeys high – is facing unprecedented lift failures that have seen them branded the “worst lifts in Islington”.

Residents living on the Pleydell estate in Old Street say life has become unbearable for many since the double lifts in both blocks have ­frequently broken down simultaneously – ­forcing the elderly and families to walk up to 192 steps to get to their homes.

Janet Cronshaw, 70, lives on the 13th floor with her two dogs Anna and Rosie.

She said: “It makes you scared to go out, especially if you’ve got shopping, and I’ve got dogs as well. It’s hard work walking up the stairs, I can’t do it in one, I have to stop on every floor because it’s too much. I had to walk up the stairs around three times in the last week, but it’s got much worse in the last year.”

At a recent meeting with Islington’s new lift manager, Larry Hutchinson, he admitted their lifts were the worst in the borough and yet they were number 14 on the lift replacement list: pushing their lift replacement programme back by two years.

Previously they were told their lifts would be replaced next month.

A recent freedom of information request by tenants revealed lifts 89 and 90, in Galway House, have broken down 338 times in the last six years.

Michael Solomon, a member of the estate’s Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), said: “There’s 16 floors of old people and young people and vulnerable people who get stuck and are not able to get out or not able to get back in.

“[I am asking] how is it you’re not fixing them next? Why are we waiting two years? Because there can’t be many places where not only are they really, really bad, but there are this many floors, with this many people living here, and this much disruption to their lives.”

Some residents in wheelchairs or mobility scooters can face hours waiting in the tenants’ hall for engineers to come if the lifts have broken while they’re out, while others are unable to get out at all.

There is concern that older residents are missing hospital appointments and social events at local community centres because transport arrives and is unable to pick them up.

Cunzia and Ross Daniels with their dog Nibbler, who they have taken up and down 12 flights of stairs more than three times in the past two weeks

Keiron Titus, also a member of the TMO, lives on the 16th floor. He said last Thursday evening his four-year-old daughter had a nightmare her mother had died after the lifts suddenly dropped from one floor to another. Describing how the residents feel ignored, he warned they were “very, very angry” and “desperate”.

“But I think the most upsetting thing is it feels like something catastrophic has to happen before anybody takes any action,” he added.

“We’ve told them hundreds of times that something bad could happen. The inconvenience is one thing but being able to get in and out of your home should be a fundamental human right.”

Housing chief Councillor Una O’Halloran apologised for the breakdowns and accepted their frequency was “unacceptable”.

“We have prioritised the high-rise blocks on the Pleydell Estate for the first phase of a new borough-wide lift modernisation programme, set to start in 2025,” she added.

She said “in rare situations where both lifts are affected,” vulnerable people living on the estate were contacted “to talk through the support we can offer”.

“We treat lift breakdowns as an emergency and aim to fix them as quickly as possible, ideally the same day,” she added.

• Anyone worried about getting in and out of their home can contact Islington on 020 7527 5300 or at homesandcommunities@islington.gov.uk