AN elderly woman feels like 'a prisoner in her own home' and has not left her flat since Christmas because of a broken lift - and now she has learned it won't be fixed for another year.
The communal lift at the block of flats for retired people in Brookthorpe Close in Warndon has never worked properly according to the residents, sometimes breaking down with them stuck inside.
On several occasions, firefighters have come out to free them.
However, they understood the lift, which suffered another major breakdown in June last year, would be replaced in April this year.
Cllr Jill Desayrah said she was given assurances by landlord Platform Housing the lift would be replaced next month after multiple attempts to repair it had failed.
Instead, they have learned from Cllr Desayrah that the lift will not be replaced until next March - although she has asked why they had to find out from her, not Platform.
Cynthia Ash, aged in her 70s, uses a mobility aid to get about and said she has not left her upstairs flat since Christmas and struggles to use the stairlifts.
Mrs Ash, who has lived at Brookthorpe Close for 15 years, said: "I can't get out. Christmas is the last time I went out. I feel I'm in prison really. We have been waiting and waiting for them to fix this lift.
"But they're still putting our rent up. We're prisoners in here."
Rob Wilding, 65, who has been stuck in the lift three times, said: "Last time I was in there eight minutes. The fire brigade got me out again. I would not go back in the lift until they get a new one."
Mr Wilding said the stairlift got in the way when people tried to carry shopping up the stairs.
"The delay is disgusting really - but it didn't really surprise me," he said.
Cllr Jill Desayrah hand-delivered letters about the delay in fixing the lift.
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She wrote to residents: "I don't know if any of you have been advised differently, but I was shocked and disappointed at the response I received yesterday. The latest plan is that the lift will not be replaced until March 2025.
"I know that many of you rely on this lift, which is so frequently out of action, and that many of you are unable to use the stairlift, so I believe it to be an unacceptable situation."
One man, who did not want to be named, said 'I'm going to cancel my rent' when he learned of the delay to the lift replacement.
A spokesperson for Platform Housing said: "As part of our commitment to building safety, the lift at Brookthorpe Close in Warndon has been taken out of service as it is old, unreliable, and difficult to maintain.
"We are currently making arrangements for a new, modern and reliable passenger lift for residents and other users, to be installed.
We apologise for the inconvenience this work will likely have on residents and have provided a stairlift for this interim period.
"The Programme Delivery Team is working hard to minimise the disruption and are accelerating these works as much as possible."
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