Disabled residents living on the even numbered floors in a Ramsgate tower block have been stranded in their homes for a week because the lift is out of action.
Staner Court in Manston Road has 15 floors and 90 flats. There are two lifts that service the block, one for even floors and one for odd.
But the even floor lift broke on Wednesday last week (February 6), was mended the next day but stopped working again on the Friday (February 8).
Sheralee James is one of the residents who have no way of getting out of the building without the lift.
The mum-of-four lives on the tenth floor and uses sticks and sometimes a wheelchair. She has been at the block since September 17 and said initially there were no problems but recently the lift is often out of action.
The 52-year-old suffers a range of mobility problems and had to move to a friend’s flat in the block after being struck down with an ecoli infection which left her too weak to care for herself.
She said: “On Wednesday night I was a couple of floors down visiting a friend when the lift broke and I couldn’t get back upstairs. After several hours it was fixed and it was working the next day but on Friday it broke again and has been like it ever since.
“I called Mears and was told it would be fixed in 48 hours but it is still broken and now they are saying they have to order a part for it.
“It means I can’t get out as I can’t just go down the stairs. I am literally trapped on the tenth floor.
“I have a range of mobility issues and after the ecoli infection in May 2017 I couldn’t do anything. I had just finished training as a special needs assistant, had my DBS certificate and was due to start a job when I ended up in hospital.”
Sheralee is bidding for a new home and says she is hopeful of a move to a more suitable property.
In a letter to residents East Kent Housing say they are “looking into further improvement works on these lifts in the near future to stop reoccurring breakdowns.”
Mears say following the unsuccessful repair to the lift further checks are being carried out and that the firm recognises “there have been increased reports of breakdowns to the lifts,” and repairs will be carried out “as soon as possible.”
