THE lifts in Crowngate shopping centre have been out of order for many months and management warns they could be out of service for quite a while longer.

Two of the three lifts that provide access to the multi storey car park have been out of order since well before Christmas.

We asked Mike Lloyd, Manager of the shopping centre what is happening with the lifts in Crowngate. He said: “That is a good question. There is a meeting coming up this Thursday to discuss the future of the lifts. They have been out of order for a long time, but the trouble is they are over thirty years old now.

“The elevators were installed in the late 80s and came from abroad, they don’t make the parts we need to repair them anymore so we are being forced to replace them.

“They’re old and knackered to be honest, I know it is a pain in the backside for members of the public and I would love to be able to tell them that they will be fixed and when, but it isn’t as easy as that.

“We aren’t putting it off, we are working behind the scenes to get the lifts back up and running; but it costs £100,000 per lift and we haven’t yet established a deal with suppliers.

“It is all in hand, although we can’t yet give you a fixed timeframe we are trying our best to sort out the issues.”

Worcester mum of two, Teri Stone, 25 said: “I think it’s very wrong how a fellow mother, who sufferers with her legs and back, had to help me carry my two year old daughter who was asleep in her pushchair as well as my shopping up to the top floor because none of the lifts were working.

“It also affects a friend of mine, her son who won’t use the stairs as he has autism and is used to using the lifts. He finds it very hard being in a crowded place so having two lifts that are broken is very hard, the one lift that is working is always crammed full of people.”

Another Crowngate user, Becci Jones, said: “They have been broken for 14 months! When I go into town I always have my 1 year old son with me and my mother who has advanced COPD. Using the stairs is not an option!”