Disabled woman trapped in her flat for a week after lift breaks down

A disabled woman has been trapped in her flat for more than a week after the lift in her building broke down.
DM16145622a.jpg Alison Ludlow - trapped in her flat due to a faulty lift. Photo by Derek Martin SUS-160928-130148008DM16145622a.jpg Alison Ludlow - trapped in her flat due to a faulty lift. Photo by Derek Martin SUS-160928-130148008
DM16145622a.jpg Alison Ludlow - trapped in her flat due to a faulty lift. Photo by Derek Martin SUS-160928-130148008

Alison Ludlow, 62, from Bastion House, Chichester left her flat on Wednesday, September 21, only to find when she returned that it was out of order.

Due to her severe and rapidly worsening mobility problems, it took Alison 15 minutes to climb the two flights of stairs to her flat.

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Now, more than a week later, she remains trapped in her own home.

“You begin to forget what it is like outdoors,” said Alison.

“If I had a way of getting safely down the stairs I could go to my daughters where I could get more support.”

She added: “Each day gets very boring just sitting around, I just read or go on the computer – I feel very frustrated.”

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Her husband, David Ludlow said: “Despite our many calls to A2Dominion and promises that the lift will be repaired that same day the lift is still out of service, and Alison is unable to leave the flat and various events she was due to attend are on hold.

People need stimulation for their mental health, they need to be able to go outside.”

He adds that not only is it completely unacceptable, but in the case of a fire Alison wouldn’t be able to get herself out.

John Turner, A2Dominion’s assistant director of property services, said: “We’re committed to delivering high quality housing and sincerely apologise for this matter.

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“An external power cut, which was out of our control, caused the lift to be out of service.”

He continued: “Technicians were on site immediately and we’ve been proactive in trying to resolve the issue.

“We’re generally able to resolve the vast majority of repairs within a reasonable amount of time but in this case we’ve ascertained specialist lift parts are required and the work will take longer to resolve than we’d hope.

“We’re keeping our residents informed on progress and will provide any special support they require.

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“We will also be taking this through our complaints procedure to ensure we can prevent delays like this in the future and ensure the best outcome for our residents.”

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