Anger after older people in Norwich flat complex spend Easter weekend without working lift

Dukes Palace Wharf in Norwich. Pic: Dan Grimmer. Archant

Older people who endured the Easter weekend without a working lift in their flats have hit out at the management company for not getting it fixed sooner.

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The lift in the six-storey complex at Dukes Palace Wharf, in Norwich’s Duke Street, stopped working on Wednesday.

Management company Brown & Co posted a notice saying the manufacturers had found the fault but needed to source parts, so it was likely to remain out of action until “the latter part” of the following week.

That prompted residents to post their own note, saying it meant older and disabled people had become flat-bound or were having to curtail their trips.

The letter to Brown & Co, stated it was a “formal complaint of indirect discrimination” and was signed as being from older and/or disabled residents of Dukes Palace Wharf.

It stated that the lack of the lift was an “immediate, life-altering issue to many residents” and meant “seemingly simplistic undertakings” such as food shopping and medical appointments had “taken on additional effort or are now impossible”.

One resident said: “It’s not the first time this has happened and last time it was broken for two weeks. I’ve had to lug my shopping bags up the stairs one step at a time and have a rest on each step.”

Lauren Razavi, who lives in the complex, said she was going to put up signs offering to pick up food shopping and prescriptions for her neighbours.

She said: “We have a number of elderly and disabled people living in here and the only option for them are the stairs. A couple of people I’ve spoken to on the stairs say they know people who will be unable to get out of their homes without being able to use the lift.

“A lot of the elderly people own their own homes and they pay a service charge, so you’d really think it should be sorted.”

Brown & Co were not available for comment. On the note placed on the lift they apologised for any inconvenience.