Residents raise concerns over intercom system
TRUST SAYS SAFETY IS OF ‘PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE’
ELDERLY residents at a block of flats say they are fearing for their safety as a result of a faulty intercom system.
Fred Fletcher, 71, lives on the tenth floor of Tom Collins House in Byker and claims intermittent issues with the building’s door entry system has been a cause for concern among residents for months.
The retired plumber has arthritis and chronic COPD and says he is forced to regularly go down to the ground floor to let guests into the block and is worried at what might happen in an emergency.
He said: “The intercom just doesn’t work on the front door the majority of the time. Nine out of 10 times you try to use it, it doesn’t work.
“This has been going on for months and it is a real danger to people who live in the building.
“The building has mostly elderly residents. If I was to take a fall and dialled 999, how would anyone be able to get in? It leaves us vulnerable and it is really concerning living on one of the top floors.”
In 2018, Tom Collins House underwent a £1.2m external and communal refurbishment including a new sprinkler system following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Now Mr Fletcher is pleading with the operators of Tom Collins House to make the intercom system a priority.
He added: “For me it is a real inconvenience. I’m lucky I have my daughter who visits me but I shouldn’t have to go down to the ground floor to let her in.
“They’ve spent over £1m on the building in recent years which is great but they should have prioritised the door system and the lifts – one of which was out of service for a year. It is vital that this gets changed straight away before something serious happens.”
The Byker Community Trust, which runs the sheltered housing block, said a specialist engineer has been employed to investigate the intercom system.
A spokesman said: “We have been made aware of an intermittent technical issue with the door entry system at Tom Collins House. The engineer visited the building to examine the door entry system last Friday and the system was fully operational at that time, however, as this problem is occurring only intermittently, we have requested a full technical report to identify possible causes of the problem and how to rectify it.
“The engineer’s report is expected this week and residents at Tom Collins House will then be updated on how we intend to resolve the situation as soon as possible. The safety of our residents is of paramount importance and we can reassure residents that emergency services have an override key which can access the building in the event of an emergency.
“Both lifts at the scheme have also been upgraded and works were completed in June this year.”