Vasundhata Gupte has said she cannot walk up the stairs due to a hamstring injury (Picture: W8media)
People living in an iconic Brutalist building fear they are living in a death trap after their lifts broke down.
Some residents of the 26-storey Balfron Tower,east London,were stuck in their homes for nearly a week as a result.
They told Metro that one of the lifts in the Grade II-listed tower is temperamental and the second one stopped working completely last week.
Vasundhata Gupte,22,cannot walk up and down the stairs because of a hamstring injury.
She said: ‘I am coming back from recovery sessions for my leg,but I then have to walk up 15 flights of stairs so what is even the point in trying to fix it.’
The Ernő Goldfinger building,on the Brownfield Estate,is managed by property firm Way of Life and two-bed flats typically cost around £2,300 a month to rent.
Fellow resident Peter,58,has a spinal injury so cannot use the stairs at all.
He said: ‘What if there is a fire? What if I have a heart attack? Who will come and get me? Lives are at stake here.’
The Brutalist block was designed by esteemed architect Ernö Goldfinger and completed in the early 1960s (Picture: W8Media)
Sophie says she can get up and down the stairs to her 21st floor flat,but needs to carry her 14-year-old dog whenever he needs to pee.
She told Metro: ‘Imagine finishing a 10-hour night shift and having to walk up the 21st floor.
‘My housemate has had to temporarily move out of the flat because he has mobility issues and he knows there is no way he can manage the stairs – it’s the same with my friend on the 24th floor.’
Way of Life told residents that both lifts needed major components before they could be repaired.
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In an email they said: ‘It is incredibly unfortunate that this has occurred across both lifts at the same time and for that we apologise.’
The 26-storey Grade II-listed tower block is home to dozens of residents (Picture: W8Media)
Resident Sophie Rushton is pictured with her dog,which she said she needs to carry up the flight of stairs (Picture: W8Media)
Way of Life offered help to anyone with things like shopping,but Vasundhata said she couldn’t get hold of anyone on Saturday so had no choice but to walk down and up the stairs.
Meanwhile,Peter said that after a member of staff dropped food off,he ‘point blank refused to walk past the seventh floor’.
A spokesperson for Way of Life told Metro they were aware of the issues with the lifts but that ‘the service has been restored’. Moments later,we received a call from a resident telling us they had broken down again.
A Grade-II building of its time
The Brutalist block was designed by esteemed architect Ernö Goldfinger and completed in the early 1960s.
It is owned by housing association company Poplar Harca and house builder Telford Homes. It contains 146 flats,which were refurbished in 2019,and contains a mixture of social housing and private rentals.
A two-bedroom flat can cost £2,300 per month to rent.
A two-bedroom flat can cost £2,300 per month to rent (Picture: W8Media)
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