People stuck in 26-storey tower block after lifts broke only offered £100 voucher

Residents trapped up an iconic Brutalist tower block have been offered only £100 in compensation despite being unable to leave their homes.

Those living in the top floors of the 26-storey Balfron Tower, east London, have been periodically stuck in their flats as the lifts keep breaking down.

They told Metro one of the lifts in the Grade II-listed tower is temperamental and the second one stopped working completely last in May.

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.’

Residents have since been offered an e-voucher from Poplar Harca, which owns the building, worth £100 for the ‘inconvenience’, the Standard reports.

Peter, in a letter to MP Apsana Begum, said: ‘After everything we’ve endured, to be offered a flat-rate token – not even per person – is not only inadequate, it is downright insulting.

‘This gesture minimises the severity of the situation and shows a complete lack of understanding (or concern) for the distress and damage caused.’

Harca said: ‘The service outage was the result of a unique, highly unfortunate and unlikely component failure, that could not have been foreseen or prevented.

‘Throughout the period when lifts were not operational, all building safety requirements were fully adhered to. The safety of all residents was and remains our absolute priority and our contingency plans for this situation were signed off by the London Fire Brigade.

‘The Balfron Tower team brought in additional on-the-ground support for residents, and provided specific support to those with additional needs.

‘Engineers worked hard to restore service as quickly as possible, which required the expedited production and delivery of bespoke components from a supplier in Germany. The first lift was operational from 20th May and the second lift was operational from 23rd May.

‘The lifts were and continue to be serviced on a frequent and best practice schedule.’

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