A GROUP of residents have been left feeling like ‘prisoners in their own homes’ after the lifts servicing their apartments broke down.

Residents in Willow Gardens in Darwen have been left without a lift for around 10 days, meaning those with mobility problems couldn’t leave their properties.

A concerned resident, who lives in the apartments on Union Street, said there were 50 properties spread across four floors which are serviced by three lifts.

The resident said: “The lift servicing apartments 16 to 32 has been broken down for ten days.

“This means that the elderly and infirm residents who cannot use the stairs are stuck in.

“They cannot go shopping, nor can they attend doctors or hospital appointments. In fact, they are almost prisoners in their own homes.”

The 73-year-old, who did not wish to be named, said he contacted Together Housing, who maintain the properties, but feels like he’s being fobbed off. He said: “When we contacted our landlord, we were told they were waiting for spare parts from Germany.

“The lifts break down on a fairly regular basis and it seems that they will not keep spare parts locally, which is daft.”

Together Housing head of property compliance, Devinder Singh, said the issue should have been resolved over the weekend. He said: “Together Housing apologises to the residents of Willow Gardens for the inconvenience the broken lift is causing. A letter was sent to all residents affected informing them that we were aware of the problem and that engineers would be attending.

“This letter included a mobile phone number for a member of Together Housing staff should any resident wish to contact us about this issue.

“The small number of most affected residents received a personal visit from Together Housing staff. Engineers have attended and we will continue to keep residents updated.”

Together said the lifts were due to be fixed on Friday. Yesterday, they still hadn’t been repaired.