THE boss of a Poole-based housing association says he is "truly sorry" for the 'horrific' lift accident which killed five-year-old Alexys Brown.

Michael Reece spoke out after Synergy housing association, which is part of the Aster Group, was fined £1 million yesterday afternoon.

Mr Reece, group operations director for Aster, said Alexys' family were 'let down'.

The little girl died at her home in Emmadale Close, Weymouth on August 13 2015 when her head became trapped between a lift door and the ground floor ceiling after she went upstairs to fetch her brother's phone.

As Alexys travelled upstairs on the platform lift, she was able to put her head through a hole in the Perspex door panel, which caused her to become trapped.

Firefighters had to cut Alexys free because there was no emergency key or handle to manually free her, the court heard.

The lift's glass door was damaged and it is believed Alexys put her head through a hole in the lift door to watch her brother, who uses a wheelchair, as the lift ascended, it was heard.

The damage to the door had been identified by an engineer during an inspection in May 2015 – but it had not been repaired.

Mr Reece said: "I fully accept that at the time of the accident in August 2015, we had not done everything we should have to make sure the lift was defect free and that this contributed to the accident which so tragically ended Alexys’ life.

"We let the Brown family down and for that I am truly sorry.

"We exist to make a positive difference to the lives of our customers and the safety of our customers, colleagues and contractors remains our priority. In this case we did not meet the standards expected of us and we expect of ourselves, and that is a matter of profound regret."

The company has reviewed "every aspect of lift maintenance and contract management processes" to reduce the risk of such an incident happening again, he said.

"Safety is not something we will ever be complacent about and our focus will remain on continuing to improve and learn from every safety concern," he said.

"We inspected all our through floor lifts across our portfolio immediately after the accident and all were found to be safe and in good working order. We remain in contact with our customers to reassure them of the actions we have taken and to remind them what to do if they have any concerns at all about their lift.

"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies remain with the Brown family at what must be an incredibly difficult time. We will of course continue to provide them with any support we can as their landlord."

Lift firm Orona Limited, which was responsible for the maintenance and repair of the lift, was fined £533,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs after the hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Both companies admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive.