An investigation has been demanded after six people were trapped in a faulty lift in Brentford with a broken emergency call button and no phone reception.
The drama unfolded at Trico House, on the Great West Quarter (GWQ) estate, in Ealing Road, Brentford, where residents say the lifts are notoriously unreliable.
Emanuele Sozzi, who lives in the tower block, said he was in the lift when it became stuck between floors on Saturday December 19, shortly after midnight.
He said neither he nor any of the other occupants had any phone reception, and the emergency call button 'froze' when it was pressed, meaning they had no way to raise the alarm.
The panicked residents were eventually freed when another resident heard their cries and called the emergency services.
"I can't contain my anger"
Firefighters showed up and let them out after about 15 minutes but Mr Sozzi said they could have been trapped for hours had no one heard them shouting.
Engineers were also alerted using the phone number on the second lift, but Mr Sozzi said no one turned up until 50 minutes after they had been freed.
Mr Sozzi insists the incident is not a one-off and has demanded an investigation by the housing association A2Dominion (A2D), which manages the block.
"It was a very upsetting and emotional experience and I can't contain my anger at A2D as these lifts in Trico House have been always a problem and never been fixed properly. There is a long history of faults, with many days out of order," he said.
"What if no one was around that night to hear us shouting for help? What if an elderly or disabled person had been alone in the lift?
"We want A2D to carry out a thorough investigation into what happened that night, and to explain the series of failures."
"We would like to apologise for the distress caused"
John Turner, A2D's assistant director of property services, said: "We would like to apologise for the distress caused by a technical fault at Trico House that evening, which regrettably left some residents trapped in a lift for a short period of time.
"This was caused by a problem with the lift door and also an intercom fault which prevented an emergency call from being made.
"We are grateful to the nearby resident who promptly called the fire brigade to help those who were trapped.
"A lift engineer attended within an hour and returned to resolve the issues on Monday 21 December.
"We would like to reassure residents at Trico House that both lifts are now working as normal."
