Residents have raised serious concerns after a woman was trapped in a lift with a broken emergency call button – only to later see notices telling people to carry a mobile phone in case they become stuck
A woman was trapped inside a lift with no working emergency call button on a City of London Corporation housing estate – and months later residents are instead being told not to use the lifts unless they are carrying a mobile phone.
The warning, issued after leaseholder Sukhin Tye had to rely on WhatsApping neighbours to summon help when she became stuck in February. The incident has fuelled accusations the Corporation has neglected lift maintenance on the Middlesex Street Estate.
Ms Tye found the Emergency Call button also not working but when she was able to WhatsApp neighbours – they called the Fire Brigade and helped her escape. More than five months down the line, questions are being asked as to why problems with the lifts persist. There has also been frustration at the Corporation advising residents to carry mobile phones when in the lifts, to call for support if they become trapped.
Roger Way, Chair of the Middlesex Street Estate Residents’ Association (MSERA), said: “Has the City really thought about how relevant this is to children using their lifts to travel between their homes on one of the 23 floors of Petticoat Tower and the Podium gardens and play area?”
Ms Tye told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she had contacted the Corporation to flag problems with the lift’s door prior to February’s incident.
On the day in question Ms Tye said she was in the lift when suddenly it became apparent the door was not opening. “So I was trapped. And I pressed the alarm button and it was either going to a busy tone…and then there was a message saying there was a line fault. Some kind of an error message. Meaning that whatever I called there was no pick-up on the other end.”
Having been rescued thanks only to the assistance of her neighbours, Ms Tye subsequently complained to the Corporation and safety notices were put up in April.
The LDRS has seen one of the notices, dated April 2, which says the fault has been reported to the lift contractor and the issue is due to be resolved.
It also advises residents not to use the lift unless they have a mobile phone with signal, with a number for property services included “if you become trapped”.
This has led to an incredulous response from Mr Way, who said some residents, such as young children, are unlikely to carry or even have mobile phones.
He said: “The City of London Corporation has neglected its repairs and maintenance responsibilities to the mainly social housing Middlesex Street Estate over many years.
“This has contributed to the entrapments of residents within lifts as the Emergency Call buttons in all six lifts have been non-functional since at least early February.”
A City of London Corporation spokesperson said the authority is investing more than £300 million to improve the safety and sustainability of its housing estates, including upgrades to fire safety and electrical systems. The Middlesex Street Estate is one of 13 managed by the Corporation, only three of which are in the Square Mile. It is primarily made up of social housing and is dominated by the 23-storey Petticoat Tower.
Mr Way continued to say the Corporation is not supervising its contractors when they are on site, “resulting in their use of the lifts to move heavy loads of machinery and materials for which they are not designed. As a result there are many periods of extended outages of multiple lifts at a time.”
Common Councillor Jason Pritchard, a representative of the local Portsoken ward, said: “The recent lift incidents on the Middlesex Street Estate are deeply concerning. Residents should be able to rely on lifts being safe and, if something goes wrong, on emergency systems working and help arriving promptly.
“I have raised these incidents with senior officers and with the Community and Children’s Services Committee because the experiences reported by residents point to wider questions about emergency response arrangements, contractor management and resident safety.
“Residents need to see that lessons are being learned and that appropriate measures are being taken to prevent similar incidents happening again. I’ll continue to press for clear answers and regular updates until those assurances are provided.”
A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: “One of the six lifts in the two blocks that make up Middlesex Street Estate is out of order, but we’re working to fix it by the end of the week. Residents are being kept updated.
“We’re investing over £300m to improve the quality, safety and sustainability of our London housing estates, including upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems, roofs, fire safety and electrical systems and communal areas.”
The LDRS has reported previously on issues with lifts on the Corporation’s estates.
At York Way in Islington Jayne White, a childminder on the fourth floor, said she was losing money as a result of the ongoing outages.
Last November the Corporation published plans to upgrade the lifts, lobbies and stairwells at York Way, with work expected to begin next spring.
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