A pensioner says she feels like "a prisoner in her own home" and has not left her flat since Christmas because of a broken lift.
Cynthia Ash, who is in her 70s, has now learned the lift won't be repaired for another year at her block of flats for retired people. Sometimes it has broken down with residents inside, prompting firefighters to rush to the flats near Warndon, Worcester.
Residents understood the mechanism, which suffered another major breakdown in June last year, would be replaced in April this year. But now they've been told they'll have to wait until March 2025.
And it was ward Councillor Jill Desayrah, of the Labour Party, who told them - not landlord Platform Housing. The landlord says the lift is "old, unreliable, and difficult to maintain" and must be repaired but this is no comfort to Mrs Ash, who has lived at the address for 15 years.
Councillor Jill Desayrah and Rob Wilding are pictured by the broken liftThe pensioner, who uses a mobility aid to get about, said she has not left her upstairs flat since Christmas and struggles to use the stairlifts. Mrs Ash added: "I can't get out. Christmas is the last time I went out. I feel I'm in prison really. We have been waiting and waiting for them to fix this lift. But they're still putting our rent up. We're prisoners in here."
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Rob Wilding, 65, who has been stuck in the lift three times, told Worcester News: "Last time I was in there eight minutes. The fire brigade got me out again. I would not go back in the lift until they get a new one."
Mr Wilding said the stairlift got in the way when people tried to carry shopping up the stairs. He added: "The delay is disgusting really - but it didn't really surprise me."
Cllr Jill Desayrah hand-delivered letters about the delay in fixing the lift. She wrote to residents: "I don't know if any of you have been advised differently, but I was shocked and disappointed at the response I received yesterday. The latest plan is that the lift will not be replaced until March 2025.
"I know that many of you rely on this lift, which is so frequently out of action, and that many of you are unable to use the stairlift, so I believe it to be an unacceptable situation."
One man, who did not want to be named, said 'I'm going to cancel my rent' when he learned of the delay to the lift replacement. A spokesperson for Platform Housing said: "As part of our commitment to building safety, the lift at Brookthorpe Close in Warndon has been taken out of service as it is old, unreliable, and difficult to maintain. We are currently making arrangements for a new, modern and reliable passenger lift for residents and other users, to be installed.
"We apologise for the inconvenience this work will likely have on residents and have provided a stairlift for this interim period. The Programme Delivery Team is working hard to minimise the disruption and is accelerating these works as much as possible."
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