A 94-year-old woman has been trapped in her home for over three weeks after the lift in her sheltered accommodation broke down. The woman, who does not want to be identified, has been stuck in her top floor flat in Girton Court in Hitchin since May 26 af

A 94-year-old woman has been trapped in her home for over three weeks after the lift in her sheltered accommodation broke down.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, has been stuck in her top floor flat in Girton Court in Hitchin since May 26 after the lift broke because she cannot manage the six flights of stairs.

Her son-in-law said: "She has been unable to leave her flat, as is the case with other elderly people on the same floor. Nobody seems to be bothered about this totally unacceptable situation. My mother-in-law is thoroughly fed up with her own four walls as she puts it.

"It's absolutely disgusting that it's gone on like this. The lift people come and go but it is still not fixed. It's the only lift in the block and the stairs are a hopeless task for a lot of the people there."

North Herts Homes, the social landlords, said they had managed to relocate one resident and offered alternative accommodation to another.

Chief executive Kevin Thompson said: "We deeply regret the length of time the lift has been out of order. Despite attempts to repair it we remain concerned that all efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

"The company responsible for its maintenance has assured us that a new main control board will be installed next week. Once this has been replaced we expect the lift to be fully operational again.

"We realise that this has caused many difficulties for everyone on the upper floors and apologise for the inconvenience. We have been working with our tenants to ensure they are kept fully advised of the progress and we continue to do everything we can to help. Our scheme manager has been making regular visits and as a temporary measure we have relocated those tenants who wished to be moved.