FIRST-floor residents at Alton's Orchard House residential home, some of whom use wheelchairs, are being stranded in their flats and unable to get out of the building because the lift keeps breaking down.

A woman who visits the home regularly said that an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair was unable to return to his flat after going to church on a Sunday.

The man had returned to Orchard House to find the lift out of service, leaving him unable to reach his top floor flat. He was stranded until an assistant could be found to carry him up the stairs.

She also alleged that, when the lift breaks it means upstairs residents, who take meals at the residential home, cannot get down to the dining room.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.