Disabled neighbours stuck without lift

Two Hereford neighbours suffering from a debilitating condition say they were left high and dry when their landlord failed to repair a lift they rely on.

Clare Griffiths, 48, and Neil Selden, 45, both suffer from multiple sclerosis of differing severity, and happen to live on adjacent second-floor flats in Amberleigh Court on Highmore Street, managed by Stonewater, a nationwide social housing provider.

On the morning of Sunday, February 5, the wheelchair-bound Ms Griffiths contacted the company to report that the lift, which provides her only access to the outside world, was broken.

Although a contractor came out that afternoon, “there was no contractor’s key in the key safe”, she said.

“No one from Stonewater got back to me, even though I called them six times on Sunday. It took until 4.30pm on Tuesday before I got to speak to someone who would deal with it – only to be told, ‘a part is on order’.”

She added: “I haven’t been able to do anything for five days, I’ve had to rely on others.”

Mainly this has fallen to her mother Ann Napper, who lives nearby.

“It’s not until you have a disabled person in your life that you realise the issues,” Ms Napper said.

For Mr Selden, who uses a wheeled walking frame, “it nearly killed me getting the shopping up the stairs”, he said.

The breakdown has been particularly inconvenient for Ms Griffiths as this was to be her final week in the flat before moving into a specially designed bungalow with a different provider elsewhere in the city.

Now removal men from Strong Removals, for whom she was full of praise, have had to lug all her possessions down two flights of stairs, at extra expense – which Stonewater has said it will reimburse her for.

“It’s not the first time this has happened, there have been at least three other occasions,” Ms Griffiths said.

“In 2019 they had to source a part for the lift from overseas, which took three months – during which they had to house me elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, the property itself, which is just nine years old and overlooks the city’s racecourse, could with a little thought have been made more disabled-friendly, the pair said.

“For example, I asked for the door entry system to be changed, so I could get in and out unaided,” Ms Griffiths said. “They need to spend a day with a disabled person to see what the daily struggles are.”

Eager not to be seen as a “moaner”, she added: “I’m a positive person, I just want to get on with life.”

A Stonewater spokesperson said: “We apologise to Ms Griffiths and all the residents at Amberleigh Court that the lift has been out of service, whilst we have waited for replacement parts to be sourced.

“We aim to ensure that all our customers are kept updated regarding repair timescales and are currently reviewing how we can better support residents who rely on lifts to access their home, during periods where lifts are out of service.”

The company said the lift “is now back in service” as of Thursday, February 9. But later said that as of Tuesday morning (February 14) the lift had still not been fixed.