The urban myth that close-door buttons do not actually work in lifts has been debunked…in Britain at least.

For decades people have claimed that the button did nothing to speed up the time taken for the doors to close and was put there simply for the placebo effect, which made passengers feel more in control.

This week Karen Penafiel, executive director of the US National Elevator Industry, told the New York Times that lift buttons in the US had not worked for decades.

The change happened since the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, which meant that lifts had to ensure that someone with a disability had time to get inside.

However Nick Mellor, technical director of the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) said that it was not the case in Britain.

"It varies according to the application of the lift, so a lift in Canary Wharf, for example, will have a much shorter delay than a quiet residential block, but the close door buttons do still work.

"Close door buttons aren't on all lifts but they do tend do work when they are present. We have an equivalent standard to the American with Disabilities Act which determines how long the doors should stay open, so there is already a built-in delay.