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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 9 October 2009

Stuck in the lift

• I WOULD not think that rescuing people from a lift is a waste of firefighters’ time or public resources (Fire brigade to set a £277 release fee for lift rescues,
September 25).
Several years ago, my husband got stuck in the lift in our block.
He had his mobile phone with him but rang me at home instead of calling emergency services.
He asked me to call a repair line of the housing association, our landlord.
So I rang them, and was told that they would contact their contractor to send lift engineers.
After more than three hours, my husband was still trapped in there, and so I called emergency services. I would have been very lucky indeed if lift engineers arrived on the same day.
Firemen arrived in no time and carried out a rescue operation, which was brilliant, but I was horrified to see a frail grandfather emerge from the broken lift, who was visibly distressed.
Had I known that he was in there, I would have called emergency services straight away.
Atsuko McCarthy
Phoenix Road, NW1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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