Broken lift left OAPs stranded in their homes
Pensioners have been trapped in their homes for over a fortnight after a broken lift in a Paisley highrise left many housebound.
Residents at Calside Court, one of whom is over 100 years old, were left furious when the lift broke at the end of March and officials at Renfrewshire Council told them it could take five weeks to repair.
Yesterday, after the Paisley Daily Express intervened, the local authority said it was hopeful of having the repairs completed by the time we went to press last night.
The fiasco has led to calls for better maintenance of the lifts in blocks of flats where some residents cannot climb the stairs due to disability or old age.
Brian Smith, who is 70 years old and is one of those fortunate enough to be able to navigate the steps more easily, contacted the Express over concern for his neighbours.
“Plenty of residents here are in their 80s, and the amount of zimmers here is quite a number. They’re having to struggle down the stairs,” he said.
“It’s only a matter of time before one of the more infirm tenants comes a cropper going down stairs carrying a walking frame.”
He added: “These lifts are only 10 years old and they’ve been off for two weeks and they told us we were going to have to wait at least another three weeks to get them fixed.
“Everybody in this building, together, pays for maintenance of the lifts, and there’s no maintenance.
“They should have the parts ready.”
Brian and his neighbours live on odd numbered floors of the 15-storey building.
Although a second lift to the even-numbered floors was working, Brian said officials at the council failed to acknowledge that one set of steep concrete steps was still dangerous for many.
Fellow resident, Dot Finlay, has been helping her neighbours up and down the stairs while the lift has been out of order.
She said: “Some of them are absolutely stranded, and that was supposed to last for another three weeks; it’s just not good enough.
“It’s not fair to the older ones in this building.
“There will be those who’ve not come out of their flats because they can’t manage the steps and they’ve just been stuck in all this time.”
Local councillor Eddie Devine echoed the residents’ concerns, and said it was too often that the lift was out of order.
He told the Express: “It seems to be a constant fight to keep the lifts in these buildings functioning.
“People are paying a lot of money in service charges and they’re not getting the service that they’ve paid for.
“If you’re a bit older, going up and down flights of stairs, it can be a stressful time, if you’re carrying your messages, or parcels or something like that, so it’s not very good,
“I’m not happy with the situation.
“I don’t know why it’s going to take three weeks to get the part, they’ve got a number of the same lifts, they should have at least one of each part in their possession, that would be a sensible way to manage the operation.”
After Brian contacted the Express, his concerns were put to Renfrewshire Council.
On Thursday morning a council spokesperson responded to say that the lifts would be fixed immediately.
They said: “We apologise for any inconvenience residents may have experienced during this time.”
There will be those who’ve not come out... they’ve just been stuck
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