RESIDENTS in one of the town's tallest block of flats have been going stair crazy - after their only lift was broken for FIVE days.

IPSWICH: Residents in one of town's tallest block of flats have been going stair crazy - after their only lift was broken for FIVE days.

Tenants in The Foundry - an 11-storey block on the Waterfront which forms part of the Cranfields Mill Development - today described the situation as “ridiculous”.

One woman had to hump her luggage up to the tenth floor, while another's friend needed to use her inhaler after becoming asthmatic climbing the stairs.

The lift, which services around 97 flats, of which around half are occupied, stopped working on New Year's Eve and was only repaired on Tuesday.

One angry tenant, who asked not to be named, said: “Every day, I passed people on the stairs either going up or down and everyone was fed up with it.

“To have it out of action for so long is ridiculous. It's not the first time this has happened either.”

Another resident, Lee Toyne, 21, said: “New Year's Eve was a problem. One of my friends is quite asthmatic so every time she went up and down the stairs, she had to use her inhaler. She was getting quite out of breath.”

Emily Evans, 25, a self-employed county court advocate who lives on the tenth floor, added: “I came back with all my bags after Christmas to find the lift not working. I am not unfit, but I struggled.”

However, Sabetha Cowan, 56, said it wasn't a big issue. “With a new build you're going to get problems,” she said.

“I wouldn't say I'm upset about it. It's caused by people putting to much weight in the lift. They are bringing in things like couches when they move in and they want to cram in as much as they can.”

A spokeswoman for developers Wharfside Regeneration said the fault was probably caused by someone misusing it.

She said: “Engineers had tried to repair it at the time, but they needed a new part. To be honest, it is a bit ridiculous that the fact a lift has not worked a couple of times has been reported to a newspaper.”

Have you had problems with your block of flats? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk