THE Dolphin Centre has said it hopes to open the lift to Poole Library ‘in a couple of weeks’.

After a year of being closed for refurbishments Poole Library has opened without a working lift, leaving wheelchair users and those with mobility problems unable to access it.

The facility was closed for more than a year for refurbishments including “safe building adaptations, fit out, and for major replacement of ventilation, lighting and heating building systems".

But it opened last week without a working lift.

The lift is managed and maintained by the Dolphin Centre.

John Grinnell, centre manager of the Dolphin Centre, said: “The lift closure is part of a full planned maintenance refurbishment which was delayed due to a supply shortage of the required parts to resolve a technical fault. For safety reasons, we are unable to re-open the lift until the required parts are delivered.

“We communicated the situation to BCP Council weeks in advance of the library reopening and have continued to provide updates on the lead time of the parts. There is a goods/passenger lift at the rear of the library that could be used, but we understand that the library has decided not to use it at this point in time.

“We are doing everything we can to speed up the process and hope to reopen the lift in a couple of weeks. We thank everyone for their patience while we work hard to resolve the issue.”

READ MORE: Poole Library reopens after a year without a lift to access it

As previously reported, an officer from BCP Council said: “We are aware of the issue with the lift which is under the management of the Dolphin Centre. We had hoped that the repair works would have been completed in time for the reopening of the library, however that was unfortunately not the case.

“It was decided despite this to press ahead with the much-anticipated opening of the newly refurbished library.

“It is planned that the new Customer Services office will be moved to the library on 7 November however this depends on the lift being operational.

“We are in regular communication with the Dolphin Centre management team and are awaiting further clarification on the completion date of the repairs and in the meantime Customer Services will remain in its temporary home at Beech House.”