PEOPLE living in a 24-floor Southampton tower block are calling for urgent action to fix their lift which has been out of action for the last eight months.

The situation has been made worse by the sporadic breakdowns of Millbrook Tower's second lift which has left some residents prisoners in their own homes.

The elderly, disabled and those with young children are left to struggle up the stairs - 48 flights in total to the top - of the council block in Windermere Avenue.

Darren Blakeman, who lives with his disabled mother on the 23rd floor said: "With one lift not working and the other unreliable it is very difficult to make any arrangements to go out.

"The council don't seem to be interested in the situation."

His mum, Josephine, 66, needs to have extra oxygen because of respiratory problems and with each oxygen cylinder lasting just two hours any delay in returning home could have devastating consequences.

Full-time carer Darren, 34, said: "With the lift breaking down quite regularly I really worry about the consequences of what happens if my mother needs an ambulance and how we get her out.

"We aren't able to do the things we would like because of the uncertainly with the lifts. It is very frustrating."

Mo Simmons, who lives in the tower block and is a tenant representative said she believed the repair work on the lifts to be near completion.

"I do sympathise with people living in the block of flats but equally I do appreciate there have been problems with the work to repair the lifts," she said.

A council spokesman confirmed that a repair programme that began in September on the out of action lift should have been completed last month.

However, due to a problem with the lift contractor the current completion date is May 2.

The council has said that its contractor has also pledged to complete work on the second lift within nine weeks.

The spokesman added that council engineers would continue to monitor the contractors' progress to ensure the lifts are completed as soon as possible, and apologised for any inconvenience for the delay.