Frail elderly and disabled people left stuck in Portsmouth housing block after lift breaks down

Despite urgent requests to resolve the problem, pensioners, disabled people, a pregnant woman with a young child and those in poor health have been left ‘high and dry’ at  Admirals House in Gisors Road, Milton, after the lift has been out of use.

The five-storey block has seen residents feeling utterly abandoned – with delivery drivers now even throwing in the towel after deciding flats near the top of the building are too far for them to go.

The delay in fixing the lift at the Bartley Management Ltd building is thought to be down to a wait for the correct parts to be delivered.

But the patience of residents has been exhausted after ‘stonewall’ efforts by the company and a ‘bureaucracy of excuses’.

Anthony Spence, whose pregnant step-daughter lives in the block with a small child, said: ‘She is eight months pregnant and can’t get out of the flat because it is a long way down.

‘With her heavily pregnant she is too scared to go and up and down the stairs on her own in case something happens. She’s lucky she has people who can help her.

‘It is a nightmare situation and a big worry for her as she fears she may go into labour while the lift is not working.

‘There are residents including disabled people, pensioners and those in bad health who have been forced to climb up five flights of stairs daily to reach their properties. Delivery companies, who some people rely on, have now refused to deliver to their homes – making it extremely difficult for those without outside support.

‘There is a disabled woman who is stuck in her flat because she can’t get up and down the stairs.’

Mr Spence said Bartley Management has been slow in acting with it taking eight weeks to source the parts needed to fix the lift.

He continued: ‘The whole procurement process has taken weeks to sort out. There have been so many excuses for the delays. People feel like they are just being fobbed off all the time.

‘Residents who have lived there a long time say it is a recurring problem so it is something they need to look at and resolve once and for all.’

Bartley Management was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.