BROMLEY flat-dwellers have slammed a housing association, claiming elderly and disabled residents were forced to struggle up stairs due to faulty lift.

Treversh Court in Grasmere Road, Bromley, saw its lifts break down on December 23.

For nearly three weeks the people living there, some of whom became virtually housebound, claim Hyde Housing Association did not fix the problem despite repeated cries for help.

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Residents Slawa Bartlitz, Rajese Theivendra, Ana Romero,Patricia and John Stack and Sam Penny

Pamela Marsh, 78, suffers from arthritis, is diabetic and has had her stomach removed after a cancer scare.

She has lived on the third floor of the building since 1995, and said the situation with Hyde has never been as bad as it is today.

She said: "When I tried to go home with bags of shopping I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

"I felt all giddy. I felt so ill. It was bloody horrible.

"The stairs are concrete and they seem higher than other stairs to get up.

"It nearly killed me to go up those stairs.

"But the worst part was that nobody from Hyde came down here to speak to us. There was no explanation. I am bloody fuming."

Samatha Penny, 39, lives on the sixth floor with her husband, Steve, and their two girls, Chloe, 14, and seven-year-old Ruby.

She added: "We had to walk up the stairs with our shopping.

"The little ones found it really hard. We were struggling to breathe and we were in pain.

"One elderly lady who lives on my floor was not been able to return home after Christmas and had to stay with her family.

"Other people had to stay indoors, or went out once and then were not able to go out again."

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Sam Penny outside the offending lifts.

Regional Director of Hyde Chyrel Brown said: "I’m very sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents. I know that this has been quite frustrating for a number of them.

"The extremely bad weather conditions caused some delays in fixing the underlying problem but we worked closely with our contractors and I’m pleased to say the problem with the lift has been fixed.

"My colleagues and I made sure that residents were aware of the situation and progress was made."