A DISABLED elderly person has told how he was stuck in his high-rise apartment for five days after the elevator broke down.

Port Glasgow man David Small, who had his leg amputated two years ago, is one of many residents of Rowan Court who have been unable to get out due to the broken lift serving everyone who lives on the same floor.

Despite increasingly frantic calls to River Clyde Homes over the Easter holidays, they had to wait days for an engineer to show up.

Then, when it was finally repaired and returned to working order, it broke down again on the 14th floor with the out of order sign flashing.

David, 72, who lives on the eighth floor and uses an electric wheelchair, said: “I can’t leave my flat because I can’t go down a flight of stairs to use the lift on odd floors.

“But luckily I got to the stores before it broke down.

The Rowan Court lift was out of service from last Thursday until Tuesday.

It only worked for a few hours before it stopped working for most of the day.

Jane Crawford, 56, who also lives on the eighth floor, said: “I have mobility issues which is why I moved here in the first place.

“Mr. Small and I came here from Kelburn.

“The peer elevator is always broken, it happens all the time.

“I’ve had a few falls recently, so I can’t go out as much anymore.

“It’s terrible that you call and no one comes.

“They told me someone would be missing but no one showed up.”

It was while the Teles were visiting Mrs. Crawford and Mr. Small on the eighth floor that the elevator broke down again.

Now furious Councilor Jim Macleod, who is currently running for re-election, is calling for urgent action to protect the vulnerable people living in the block.

Mr MacLeod, who represented the area for several years, thinks it may be time to rethink the policy of placing disabled and elderly people in high-rise buildings.

He said: “If they can’t guarantee a reliable lift, they shouldn’t have people in high-rise buildings who can’t get out in the event of a breakdown.

“I don’t know how old these elevators are, but something has to be done about it.

“I am also extremely concerned about the lack of care – did River Clyde Homes send anyone to check on whether elderly residents living alone needed to run errands or were they looked after?

“No one knocked on Mr. Small’s or Ms. Crawford’s door to see if they needed anything.

“It worries me that over the Easter weekend, unless residents had family members or friends to message them, they might have struggled.

“It’s not good enough.

“Whenever these elevators break down, someone has to be there immediately to fix them.

“There should be no excuses because it’s a public holiday.

“Many Rowan Court residents may have planned over the Easter weekend to be with loved ones, friends or go to church and those plans would have been scuppered.”

River Clyde Homes today expressed its apologies to its tenants for the delayed repair.

Ronnie McKinnon, energy and compliance manager for RCH, said: ‘We were having problems with one of the lifts at Rowan Court for a few days and our contractor last visited on Tuesday to carry out a repair.

“We have had no other reports of problems.

“However, the guardian on site is monitoring the situation.

‘We apologize for the inconvenience and any customer requiring assistance should contact us on 0800 013 2196.’