Pensioners ‘stranded’ as tower block lifts break

ian.johnson01@trinitymirror.com PENSIONERS were ‘stranded overnight’ in one of Newcastle’s highest buildings – after both lifts broke.

Vallum Court bosses have apologised after the two lifts failed while maintenance work was being carrying out.

A resident told the Chronicle the 20-storey building is full of pensioners and other vulnerable people who were left “virtually stranded” after the glitch.

One of those, an 83-year-old, lives near the top and claimed: “Lifts here often go off, but usually when one breaks the other is fine but this wasn’t the case.

“It seems to be working now, but there are notices outside and the intercom doesn’t seem to be working.”

The 190ft-high Westgate Road flats were built in the 1960s as part of T Dan Smith’s ‘city in the sky’ vision, and are currently operated by Your Homes Newcastle.

The organisation’s director of customer services, Matthew Foreman, apologised for the problem. Vallum Court in Newcastle

“We are sorry that the lifts at Vallum Court have been off for a short period on Monday evening and Tuesday morning as a result of damage caused whilst improving some of the communications network cabling that serves the building,” he said.

“Whilst the lifts were unavailable, our concierge team made regular patrols of the building to support residents and offer assistance.

“We are sorry for the disruption that this problem caused our customers and will be working with the contractor to guard against it happening again.”