Pembroke House: Four people trapped in communal lift for an hour

Mary Nellis, 79, and her three visiting sisters tried using a lift inside Pembroke House to get to her room when it got stuck on Thursday, July 27.

The group heard a "grating" noise before the lift suddenly dropped with a loud clunk and the door stopped working.

Ms Nellis was panicked and "shaking" when she tried using the alarm button to contact Temple, the company that maintains the lift.

To her shock, the microphone inside the lift was also broken so the call handler could not establish whether any of the women had emergency medical needs.

There was no air conditioning inside the lift and Ms Nellis could hardly breathe as she was still suffering the effects of pneumonia.

Read more: ​Pembroke House resident successful in tribunal against Stonewater

A neighbour heard a ringing noise and phoned the fire service when they discovered Ms Nellis and her sisters were stuck.

After an hour and a quarter, the four were freed.

Pembroke House. (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Nellis told the Journal the lift breaks "at least once a month" and that she's "too frightened" to use it again.

"It was horrible and I am desperate to move out, I hate it here now. Two weeks ago the new manager got stuck in it with a prospective resident for more than an hour, " she added.

The lift was out of action for days before it was fixed and Ms Nellis was concerned that residents with limited mobility were stuck and unable to go shopping.

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Stonewater refurbished the interior of the lift but residents are concerned that the electrics have not been fixed.

This incident comes after Stonewater increased residents' rent and many have been moving their heavy belongings out using the lift.

Ms Nellis said: "They put all our rent up really high but they have not fixed the lift. They have got their priorities wrong."

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue freed four people from the lift in Pembroke House. (Image: Newsquest)

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service attended Pembroke House from 5.38pm until 6.30pm and Ms Nellis the help was "brilliant".

Dave Lockerman, director of housing operations, apologised to the customer and explained why the lift could not be fixed on Thursday.

He said: "Whenever this happens we completely understand how distressing it can be.

"Unfortunately, they couldn’t fix the lift on Thursday.  We contacted all our customers at Pembroke House on Friday to let them know that the lift was going to be out of service and to check if any urgent shopping or other support was needed."

The lift has since been repaired.

“The speech module in the lift is tested weekly and was working when tested just two days earlier. We’re still investigating with the help of our contractor why our customer had difficulty speaking with them directly while in the lift," he added.