Disabled and elderly residents 'trapped' in tower block for DAYS after lift breaks down

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Disabled and elderly residents were left ‘trapped’ in a tower block for days after the lift broke down. Tenants with ‘serious mobility issues’ were unable to get out for their shopping or for any fresh air before the lift was fixed four days later, say furious neighbours.

One of the lifts inside a Humphries Court tower block in Whitley Road, Collyhurst, broke down on Thursday morning. The block features two lifts - one serving even-numbered floors, another serving odd-numbered floors - meaning residents on the floors affected by the lift outage were left ‘having to negotiate heavy doors and slippy stairs’, according to frustrated tenants.

Despite a string of complaints from the block’s residents, and promises by North Manchester’s council homes emergency repair centre to get the problem fixed before the weekend, the breakdown was left over the weekend. Repairs were not made until Monday morning, leaving tenants on the affected even floors ‘inside all weekend’.

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Anthony Ross, 58, who is looking after 84-year-old mother Mary Ross, 84, following her stint in hospital, said: "It’s unacceptable.

“Anyone that lives on the affected floors can’t get out, no fresh air. It got to Sunday afternoon, and my mum said she’d have to negotiate the stairs."

Anthony’s elderly mother has 'serious mobility issues', and was desperate to leave her sixth floor flat for some exercise and fresh air on Sunday afternoon as advised by her physiotherapist to aid her recovery.

But although Anthony contacted Northwards Housing, which runs North Manchester’s council homes, and Manchester City Council, it took days to resolve the