Elevator ‘broken down more than four times this year’ in flats
RESIDENT SAYS FIRE BRIGADE HAD TO BE CALLED TO RESCUE WOMAN
RESIDENTS say they have been driven to despair by malfunctioning lifts in their west London tower block.
Despite being newly installed in mid-December, residents of Hazlewood Tower, in North Kensington, say one lift has broken down four times, at one point trapping a young woman with claustrophobia.
A second lift is also out of action but is due to be replaced.
Parents of young children and people with mobility issues say they are also finding it exhausting to scale flights of stairs while the lifts are not in service.
Kensington and Chelsea Council, landlord of the 13-storey block, disputes the claims. It says there has only been one incident of the new lift breaking and one case when “vandalism” caused it to close.
A mum-of-three, who asked not to be named, said: “My little sister got stuck in them recently.
“She’s claustrophobic. She pressed the bell and someone answered her saying just to hang on. She was feeling really suffocated.
“I had to call the fire brigade to break into it. If we hadn’t she could have been there for ages. After that the lift was out of service for two whole days.”
The woman, whose youngest child is five months old, said: “It could have happened to someone old or disabled.
“I live on the fourth floor – it’s a long way up when you’ve got three kids and bags to carry.”
Darren Turner, 48, a visual merchandiser, said: “I think the lift has been broken more than four times.
“The council also said it’s been happening because of vandalism, but I don’t know how that could happen unless someone wedged the doors open? And you’d think they’d be able to check that using the CCTV?”
A council spokesperson said: “The first lift was replaced in December and was inspected and passed by three independent bodies.
“We have encountered and repaired one fault with it since then, with further breakdowns being caused by vandalism which we are monitoring via CCTV. We encourage residents to report any incidents of antisocial behaviour.
“We investigate any issues that are reported to us and also carry out routine safety and hygiene checks as part of our planned preventative lift maintenance programme.”
There have also been recent reports of water pipes bursting inside several residents’ flats. One of them was Mr Turner, who has lived in Hazlewood since 1997.
“On [January 24] a pipe burst and I had a flood in my cupboard,” he said.
“It’s because the pipes in the building haven’t been serviced for years, not since I moved here. All the water is from washing machines and sinks. It destroyed lots of my property – clothes, shoes, posters and my power tools.
“There were 150 old photos that are soaked and posters from the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A [museum].”
The council spokesperson said: “We will investigate and repair any that are brought to our attention.”
The lifts and water pipe problems have arisen three months after the council defended claims that Hazlewood Tower residents have had their front doors replaced three times in recent years, due to previous models not being fire-proof or the correct specifications.
A small number of leaseholders were told they will be charged £36,000 per household for maintenance on the lifts, windows and balconies.
Meanwhile, Hazlewood and its sister block Adair Tower are also in the middle of having exterior cladding replaced after it was found to be combustible.