‘Going stir crazy’:

Dundee: Tenant going ‘stir-crazy’ after weeks inside flat

Disabled man Thomas Taylor has been housebound for six weeks due to a broken council lift.

A disabled Dundee man has been imprisoned in his flat for nearly two months waiting for the council to fix the lift.

Thomas Taylor has not been able to set foot outside since early July, meaning he has missed all his hospital appointments and is relying on internet shopping for food.

His leg was partly severed in a horrific accident in 2005 and he is now having to rely on his elderly father to run errands.

To make matters worse, the Lansdowne Court building where the 52-year-old lives does have another working lift – but it does not stop on his floor.

Mr Taylor lives on the ninth floor but his disability means he cannot even tackle the short flight of stairs leading to the operational lift, which only stops at even numbers.

The former truck driver said that despite promises to get the lift up and running quickly, Dundee City Council has yet to do so.

“Two weeks ago the council told me the lift would be going back on, but it still hasn’t. THOMAS TAYLOR

“I’m going stir-crazy in this place,” he said.

“I’m disabled and I don’t get about very well – I use a wheeled walker and a walking stick.

“Two weeks ago the council told me the lift would be going back on, but it still hasn’t.

“It’s OK for the young folk as they can take the stairs, but I haven’t been out of this flat for over six weeks.

“I’m doing all my shopping online so I’m fine for food, but my 75-year-old dad is having to go and get my prescriptions for me and I’ve missed two Ninewells appointments.”

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “We are now in a position to offer an alternative lift service to the tenant.

“In the meantime, we will be discussing this with him directly.”

Thomas Taylor, left, has been trapped in his ninth-floor flat in Lansdowne Court in the Dryburgh area of Dundee after the lift broke several weeks ago. Pictures: Dougie Nicolson.