Two disabled pensioners had to sleep in their own wheelchairs after lifts at a council-owned block of flats broke down just before the weekend.

In the absence of a stair lift, David Gray, 57, and Ernie Williams, 73, spent the night in Potters Court's lounge on Friday, unable to reach their upstairs bedrooms.

The pair said they felt “abandoned” after being left on their own for hours.

Southampton City Council has apologised and said the lifts are now being fixed.

Daily Echo: David Gray, 57

'I'm tired as hell'

David has had four strokes and is wheelchair-bound due to progressive MS.

Speaking on Saturday morning after 18 hours in the day area, he said: "I’m tired as hell, I couldn’t get back up to my room so I couldn’t sleep.

"I am just running on my last bit of energy and hopefully, they will fix the lifts as soon as possible."

Both lifts stopped working at 5.30pm on Friday after residents got together downstairs for a game of Bingo.

Earnie, who had his right leg amputated, was the last person to get into the lift before it broke.

Daily Echo: Ernie Williams, 73

The 73-year-old said: “There were people upstairs and they were going to come down but then realised the lift stopped working.

“I was just down here for five minutes; it was just a matter of minutes before I came down and the lift stopped working. I could have been stuck in there.”

'We were completely abandoned'

Some residents had to get help from visiting relatives to return to their bedrooms while others bum-shuffled up the stairs.

David, Earnie and another resident had no option but to stay in the lounge.

Earnie said: “Around three o’clock, two men from the council came and asked if there was anything that we needed. We said we were okay, and they were here for 10 minutes and then left us.

"We tried to sleep as much as we could - it wasn't much."

At 4am another council worker took one of the residents up to her room while David and Earnie were left by themselves until 7am when restaurant staff arrived.

David said: “We were just sitting in our wheelchairs, and we couldn’t go anywhere.

“I couldn’t get much sleep sat on this chair, there was no one here for us.

“We were left here for hours by ourselves, completely abandoned until the morning.

“I just feel like a zombie.”

Council's apology

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said: “We are experiencing some technical issues with the lifts at Potters Court and our contractor is attending and working to get the service operational as soon as possible.

“Our priority is always the safety and well-being of residents, so our on-site team are supporting those who need extra help getting around the building and accessing services while the repairs are made.

“There are some residents who are unable to reach their homes and we are making alternative arrangements for them. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents, and we will continue to keep the Potters Court community updated next week.”