‘I was terrified’: Two lift rescues inside a week - Coburg Flats tenants accuse landlords L&Q

Published: 16 July 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

HOUSING bosses are facing heavy criticism after firefighters were called out to rescue residents trapped in a broken  lift twice in a week.

Tenants of Coburg Flats in Greencoat Place, Victoria, have branded their landlords L&Q Housing Association a “disgrace” after they say they failed to act when a man became trapped for three hours. Two days later, a carer was rescued in a separate emergency. 

The lift in the 36-flat block has been broken for a week, and despite numerous calls to L&Q, tenants said, an out-of-order sign was only put up following the second rescue on Friday night.

Joe Vasquez, who has lived in the block for 25 years, was trapped for hours before a neighbour heard the alarm and rang the fire brigade.

He said: “I was terrified. It was the middle of the day and I was supposed to be going to pick up my daughter from school. 

“I would have thought the alarm went direct to the caretaker’s office, but it doesn’t. Luckily someone heard it and my knocking because I was stuck half-way between two floors. I can’t believe they didn’t shut down the power after that. For it to happen again in the same week is terrible.”

Carer Della Finch, who was visiting one of her patients on the fifth floor on Friday evening when she got stuck, said: “There was nothing on the door to say it was broken and the arrows were working so I presumed it was working again. 

“It went up and then it just got stuck. It was very frightening. It beggars belief. What if a child had got in it or a very elderly person? John [Ms Finch’s patient] can’t get down the stairs and has missed three doctor’s appointments. 

“There are elderly people living here and it should be a matter of urgency. I have rung L&Q five times since Monday, and still they haven’t fixed it. 

“Only on Friday did they bother to put a sticker on the bottom floor to say it was broken.”

Lift call-outs were downgraded in importance among rescue teams in November last year to “non-emergency status” to free up resources for more critical calls. 

Landlords can face a £277 bill if the fire brigade are called for 999 calls more than 10 times to the same block in 12 months.

A brigade spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the two callouts. This is very bad. People just assume we are always there for these sorts of things.”

A spokeswoman for L&Q said: “Engineers are scheduled to attend to the lifts today (July 15) following previous at­tempts to access the flats. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused to residents and hope to resolve the matter as soon as pos­sible.”