Elderly residents trapped in their homes after lift breaks

Winifred Corbett, of the Dolphin Court development in The Steyne expressed her dismay that management company Peverel's contractors had failed to fix the lift after six days.

She said: "I've felt like a prisoner in my own home. I have a lung condition and am not able to use the stairs as I'm in higher level of the building so I just can't get out of it.

"I'm very annoyed by this and it's only because I've daughters who are living in Bognor that I have been able to cope at all. This is very, very poor indeed, there is a company that has come out to look at the lifts, Orona but they have just not fixed it."

Several other residents revealed their concerns over lift engineers being unable to gain access to maintenance rooms on three occasions which has caused a problem for homeowners.

Iris Bussman, who lives in one of the upper floor flats said the lack of lift service had left many residents wondering why they are paying significant management fees.

She said: "They have had maintenance people out several times and each time they've just left after not being able to gain access to the lift control room. This has gone on for nearly a week now which has been a concern for residents who feel trapped."

Arun district councillor Melissa Briggs, who stood in last week's general election on a single cause of supporting those in leasehold managed properties, believed this was another example of companies failing to deliver acceptable services to residents.

A spokesperson for Peverel said: "Peverel Retirement would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to residents at Dolphin Court, Bognor by the malfunction of the lift.

"Our lifts are serviced regularly and we have been working closely with Orona (lift contractor) to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

The lift is now functioning.

"In this instance there was a delay in repairing the lift due to a problem with access '“ has now been resolved."

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