ELDERLY residents have been trapped in their homes at a York retirement complex for more than six weeks after repairs to its lift took longer than expected.

Peverel Retirement, which manages Fairfax Court in Acomb, has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delays, which mean the lift will not now be working again until June.

The Press reported in mid-April how many residents on the first and second floor could not leave their flats because they were too old or infirm to use the stairs.

Peverel said then that a full upgrade of the lift was needed, for which a part had to be specially manufactured in Spain, and the project could take six weeks.

But now an area manager, John Wood, has written to Colin Jackson, the son of a female resident, to say he was extremely disappointed that the original timescales had not been delivered.

He said the first stage of the repair dealt with a gearing machine and engineers had begun this work. The second part involved replacing the controller, which was being manufactured in Spain and had caused the delay in the original timescales.

“This part will be delivered on May 30 and the engineers are aiming to have this second phase completed by Friday June 6,” he said.

“The lift has to be formally commissioned back into service – a final health and safety check on the upgrade – and this is timed with that completion date of the upgrade.” Mr Jackson said residents had already been inconvenienced for more than the scheduled six weeks, with no updates provided during this time.

A Peverel spokeswoman said it would keep residents updated on the work and let them know as soon as it approached completion.

“The welfare and wellbeing of our residents is always our most important concern and our onsite house manager has been working hard to help residents with shopping and day-to-day tasks,” she said.

“Further help has come from a house manager from a nearby development and Peverel Retirement’s Area Manager, both of whom will be on hand until the lift is repaired.”