RESIDENTS at one of Oxford’s tower blocks have been unable to use their lifts for four days.

This means the 80-odd residents of the Northway tower have had to slog up and down the stairs since Monday.

But Terry Gordon, 57, who lives on the 12th storey, says the residents have been kept in the dark about the breakdown.

He said: “I have lived here for 40 years and we have had slight problems in the past when the lifts have been out of order but it was for a brief while and they always made sure that one was working.

“Nobody has been in touch at all. People surely shouldn’t be left like this. There are some really old people who live here and I’m finding it a job myself. I’ve got an arthritic hip and slipped this morning which hasn’t helped.”

Plowman Tower, which has 14 storeys, was built in the early 1960s and was the first of Oxford’s five tower blocks to be constructed.

It has two lifts, one which goes to the odd number floors and another which goes to the even ones.

Oxford City Council, which owns the block, is planning to spend £8m over the next decade revamping the city’s five high-rise homes.

This could include work on the lifts as well as on the heating system, cladding and windows.

City council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We apologise to the residents. We are working with our contractors to get it repaired as quickly as possible.”