Anthony Tomlin next to the lift which broke down

ANOTHER week, another report of a pensioner stranded by a broken lift.

This time the horror story comes from Anthony Tomlin, 60, who lives on the top floor of a six-storey housing association block of flats off City Road and explained how his elderly neighbour was left in the entry way for hours after a lift breakdown. It went out of service almost immediately after being broken for 10 weeks.

One pensioner – who the Tribune is not naming – was stuck for four hours on the ground floor, unable to get to her flat before the Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) housing providers arranged for her to stay in a hotel until the lift was fixed.

While the woman waited, another neighbour had to fetch her belongings including medication, because she was unable to walk up the stairs to access her own home.

“It feels like we are in limbo,” Mr Tomlin said about the continual interruption of lift services in the building.

This latest failure came just weeks after a new lift was installed, a process that had already taken 10 weeks and similarly saw Mr Tomlin’s elderly neighbour relocated to a small hotel room, without independent cooking facilities, for the duration of the works.

Mr Tomlin himself has epilepsy and fears that he could have a seizure in the stairwell and nobody would find him.

“The last two housing officers we’ve had, no one could get them on the phone,” he said. “At least take your job with a bit of responsibility, because at the end of the day, you’re putting people’s lives at risk.”

On Wednesday evening, residents received a message from their housing officer that said the lift was switched off due to a fault, and that NHG were awaiting a timescale for the delivery of a new part. Mr Tomlin said: “There was a bloke there and I asked him ‘What’s wrong with the lift now? It’s not even six weeks old.’ He told me they need a new part. Why should you need a new part? Haven’t they done it all? If they haven’t done it all, they’re putting us at risk.”

Mr Tomlin also said that the flats had other issues with fire safety, including a large double bed left in the stairwell that took weeks to be removed. NHG has recently increased some tenants’ rent and given no compensation in terms of reducing service charges.

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson said: “Earlier this summer the lift had to be taken out of action for major modernising work. The work was completed and lift restored on July 29, but in the interim we provided alternative accommodation for those known to be vulnerable and unable to use the stairs. In addition to the accommodation, they were provided with a daily budget for food, which allowed us to refund any receipted expenses they faced due to the move.

“Unfortunately, the lift experienced an issue yesterday for which we raised an emergency repair. We again provided alternative accommodation to those reliant on the lift, and it is now back in service.

“We are aware that residents have been leaving items in the communal areas and we regularly remove and dispose of them.”