ELDERLY residents were celebrating today after the 'lifeline' lift which left them stranded over Christmas was finally repaired.

Many of the pensioners in the Brackendale sheltered flats in Albion Street, Blackburn, were left stranded over Christmas after the elevator broke down last week.

But after repeated calls for help, engineers have taken more than six days to fix the problem.

An engineer called out on December 23, the day the lift broke down, left saying he needed a part. And a colleague who called the following day failed to call the rota warden to say he had arrived and therefore couldn't get into the building.

He left a note saying an engineer would return yesterday, leaving residents to struggle over the festive period.

Now the 68 residents have told of their joy at getting the lifeline back.

One, who wished not to be named, said: "The lift is operational now. It has been six-and-a-half days that we have been without a lift.

"A broken lift in a three-floor sheltered accommodation, when we have got disabled and partly disabled people, should be a 24-hour emergency."

A number of the residents, aged between 60 and 90 years old, spent Christmas being carried up and down stairs after the fault in the lift put it out of action.

Some of the occupants of the sheltered housing use walking frames and rely on the lift to get them up and down the floors from their rooms.

But the problem in the lift meant that some of the residents could not even welcome their relatives to the building over Christmas.

One resident said: "Now the lift is fixed it will allow people to get out when their relatives come.

"I know of at least three people who couldn't get out when they had family visits."

Northern Counties Housing Association, owners of the building, have offices across Lancashire, but staff said nobody was available for comment until the New Year.