Residents of a Banbury apartment block are 'stranded' as lift breaks down and the landlord waits for import of parts

Andrew Westlake, a relative of one lady living in Spencer Court, Britannia Road wrote to the Banbury Guardian saying: "My partner's mother lives on the second floor. The lift has been broken for two weeks and she has now been told it will be another six weeks.

"The part required has to come from Germany. This means her mother and other residents will have been stuck indoors for two months. Relatives have to do shopping as they cannot get out without the lift," he said.

Landlord First Port says the company hopes the spare part will arrive this week.

A spokesman said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience this lift breakdown has caused residents at Spencer Court and we are working to get it back up and running as soon as possible.

"The part required was only available outside the UK, so there has been a small delay, but we are expecting the part to arrive and be fitted this week.

“We understand that a lift being out of action in a retirement development can be challenging and we are doing everything possible to support residents with the Development Manager available to assist with jobs like the collection of shopping and prescriptions and disposal of refuse, whilst following social distancing guidance at all times. We have provided regular updates to residents and will continue to do so until the lift is back in action.”

The spokesman said the lift had broken down on May 29 and engineers arrived the following day. They tried unsuccessfully to repair the broken part and a new one was ordered as a matter of urgency.

In the event of a fire, a lift should not be used and residents are aware of this, the spokesman said.

"The development has a ‘Stay Put’ policy in place, as agreed by the local fire authority. If evacuation was required, this would be coordinated by the fire service," she said.