Bethnal Green: Wheelchair user ‘trapped in flat’ after lift breaks

Ms Brown, who has lived in the property for several years, said the main lift stopped working on Thursday and, although engineers were sent to look at it over two days, it has since broken again.

On two occasions she said she was told the lift had been fixed so left her home, only to find the lift was broken on her return. She says she then had to crawl up the stairs back to her flat in pain, with her flatmate carrying her wheelchair up the stairs.

Despite calling “constantly”, Ms Brown said Crabtree had told her it would not unlock the door, stating it was a fire door and must remain locked, that its offices in central London were too far away from east London, and that the property manager was off sick.

Additionally, Ms Brown said when she called Crabtree and explained she was a wheelchair user and the situation was causing her great difficulty, the staff member told her “when you live in a block of flats you should expect that the lift will break sometimes”.

“It’s victim blaming,” she argued. “It makes me feel like it’s my fault. They have no idea what it’s like looking for a property in London [as a wheelchair user].”

London Fire Brigade (LFB), when contacted by Ms Brown about whether a fire door should remain locked, told her there was no fire safety reason why this would be the case.

The LFB told the BBC it was in the process of arranging a visit to the building in question, and the fire safety team had “spoken with the resident and, as a result, has made contact with the building’s managing agent”.