AN elderly couple have been left ‘prisoners in their own home’ after the lift in their sheltered housing accommodation broke.

Doug and Kim Phillips have been trapped in their first-floor flat in Gladys Court, Bournemouth, since Monday.

The broken lift would not be as much of an inconvenience if it wasn’t for the fact that Doug, 69, suffers from a pulmonary condition and Kim, 59, had a stroke two weeks ago.

This makes walking up and down stairs almost impossible for them.

“We are like prisoners in our own home,” said Doug, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which affects the lungs and causes breathing difficulties when active.

“I only discovered the lift was broken when I went to use it on Tuesday and discovered a notice saying it was out of order.

“It has made life very difficult for us because we have no way of getting out of the flat as we just can’t manage the two flights of stairs.”

Fortunately for the couple they do their food shopping online and have their groceries delivered by ASDA.

But the broken lift has caused the couple quite a few issues when it comes to hospital appointments.

“My wife is currently recovering from a stroke and she was only released from hospital a couple of weeks ago,” added Doug.

“She has an appointment at the hospital on Monday, but as she needs hospital transport with a wheelchair we will have to cancel it.

“It’s quite an important hospital appointment as it’s a check-up to see how she’s going following the stroke.

“We are also a bit concerned about any emergencies with our health because I don’t know how easy it would be for paramedics to reach us. It’s quite worrying really.”

Gladys Court in Wellington Road is made up of 71, one and two bedroom flats, specifically for retired and elderly people.

“The majority of people living here are elderly and probably find stairs quite difficult as well,” said Doug.

“I understand things break sometimes but surely in this situation fixing it quickly is paramount.”

Engineers came to fix the lift on Thursday but had ordered the wrong part.

At the time Mr Phillips was told it could take another week before the new part arrives.

But a spokesman from Bournemouth Borough Council, which manages Gladys Court, said the lift should have been fixed yesterday (Friday).

Seamus Doran, tenancy services manager, said: “We were notified about a broken lift at Gladys Court on Tuesday and immediately sent an engineer to assess the situation.

“A new part was required to repair the lift and was subsequently ordered. Unfortunately the part which was initially sent by the supplier was the wrong part.

“Now that we have the correct part the lift will be fixed and should be working again.

“We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”