In response to your story (Evening Press, September 8) about problems with the lift at Marjorie Waite Court, I must strongly deny the statement which I understand was made by a spokesperson for the lift company OTIS - that the lift has ever been a danger to residents and visitors to the flats.

OTIS has confirmed that no engineer from their main company was involved in repairing the lift or visiting the site and they have apologised for any misunderstanding.

City of York Council has a contract with Express Evans Lifts (part of the OTIS group) and all lifts in sheltered homes are serviced every three months.

As soon as a problem was identified, the lift was taken out of service as a precautionary measure. Unfortunately there was a delay in getting a replacement part which was delivered on Wednesday and the lift was back in service by 3.30pm that day.

The council, and Express Evans Lifts, kept resident informed of the nature and progress of the work being done and the length of time the repair would take.

In order to prevent further problems with this lift, we have asked the engineers to increase the number of services during the year to ensure the advanced availability of any key components.

Tom Brittain,

Contract Manager (City),

City of York Council.

St Leonard's Place, York.

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