London: Elderly residents ‘stranded’ for six weeks after lift breaks | UK News

A group of pensioners say they have been left trapped in their four-storey retirement complex because their lift has been broken for six weeks.

Many of the elderly people who live at Parish Court in Surbiton, south west London, say their ‘quality of life’ has been taken away from them due to the issue.

Despite three separate visits, the lift company has so far failed to fix the lift and have blamed the delay on the fact they don’t stock the specific parts from Spain.

Vulnerable residents have complained to property managers FirstPort about the issue in the past but claim they were just ‘fobbed off’.

FirstPort has now apologised and escalated the issue to senior management but residents still have no idea when the lift will be fixed.

Some of the people living in the flats say they’ve been plagued with the prospect of safety issues as they struggle with the steep staircase.

‘Here at Parish Court, we used to be a happy, caring community enjoying social clubs and get-togethers,’ Kathy Jones, 84, told Metro.co.uk.

‘We have now been without our lift for over six weeks. No one is happy. There is no community spirit.

‘Everyone is tired. Some of us are housebound. Our quality of life has been taken from us. This is not good enough.’

While the resident manager at the complex has tried to help, residents feel the ‘spirit’ at the development has disappeared.

People now describe the complex as ‘quiet’ and ‘uncomfortable’, where some feel they could be injured at any moment on the steep stairs.

And some claim a reason the lift has not been fixed is because old people are at the bottom of FirstPort’s to do list.

Kathleen Stafford, 87, lives on the second floor.

She said: ‘Although I only live on the second floor I have asthma and it makes it very difficult when I have to carry heavy shopping up.

‘If they had listened when we first voiced our concerns with the maintenance of the lift we might not be in this situation now.’

Hilary Jonathan, 74, has been forced to help others when she can.

She said: ‘I try and help people carry their shopping up when I can and it is heart-breaking to have to watch friends struggle with the stairs.

‘It takes such a lot out of them and you can see them just wiped out after all the effort.

‘One lady has had to move out to her sons’ place as she just cannot cope with it.’

Meanwhile, another resident who wished to stay anonymous, said: ‘I’m so disappointed and frustrated about the situation. We haven’t had a lift in over six weeks.

‘FirstPort claim in their newsletters to uphold “Strong Health 7 Safety” but these are clearly just empty words.

‘We have residents who cannot take the stairs and rely solely on using the lift to get out and see the world, do their essential shopping and to interact with people.

‘Some of the more vulnerable are not eating properly as they can’t get out to buy the food they need.

‘They cannot even get out to catch a breath of fresh air so mental health is suffering, we Pay a high service charge here for a substandard service.’

First Port said: ‘We are sorry for the disruption caused by the broken lift at Parish Court, and we are working closely with the lift contractor to resolve this as quickly as possible.

‘While a specialist lift engineer was on site shortly after the lift stopped working, unfortunately the repair process has proven to be particularly challenging, with additional delays caused by the replacement parts being manufactured outside of the UK.

‘We fully understand the difficulties a lift outage can pose in retirement communities and the Development Manager is continuing to support residents by checking on them and offering to provide support where it’s needed, including carry up their shopping and laundry whilst the lift is under repair.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.