Complaint as man stranded for three hours
RESIDENTS of a block of flats have complained about the condition of the lifts after one man was stranded downstairs for three hours.
One man, who lives on the 11th floor of Dawson House in Billingham, said residents are concerned after the lifts have been regularly breaking down.
The resident, who is disabled and uses a mobility scooter, said one lift was down for eight weeks at the beginning of the year due to planned maintenance works. He had to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the lift on the other side of the building.
Last month, the man says he was stranded downstairs for three hours after the second lift broke down. This happened again this weekend after a complaint was made to the concierge after he was “scared for his life” and claimed the lift shook and bounced down 11 floors – the lift was closed down again.
He said: “Thirteen have not been in touch to ask if they can help us in any way. I have health issues, if I was to have another heart attack in this building I would have died because the emergency services wouldn’t get to us in time.”
Last Sunday, the resident said he walked down 11 flights of stairs to go out for his medication and as soon as he got to the ground floor had to take more morphine for the pain in his legs.
He had to ask his son to get what he needed from his flat once he returned.
Thirteen’s director of asset management Doug Bacon said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our priority. Over the past few months our contractors have been carrying out some planned maintenance work on the lifts and we’ve been keeping our customers informed to minimise any inconvenience. Unfortunately, last week, contractors have been working on a repair on the lifts, leaving only one lift in working order for a short time.
“While the majority of the repairs have been completed, we’re expecting a part to be fitted this week, to ensure our customers have access to both of the lifts. We appreciate and understand our customers’ frustration and we’re always here to provide support whenever it’s needed.”