A disabled man has been made a prisoner in his sixth-floor flat after a lift broke four weeks ago.

Wheelchair-bound Adrian Walker, 45, has cerebral palsy and Ménière's disease.

He and his wife have been left housebound and depressed over the frequently broken lift.

Mr Walker has been out just once in the last month – and only by awkwardly crawling up and down the stairs.

He said: “I’m pretty irate about it. I have been stuck inside all this time and there are some people who can’t go out at all.”

They said there are around 20 immobile or disabled people living in the 96 flat block.

There are two lifts at Wiltshire House, one stopping on the even numbered floors and the other the odd numbered.

The odd number lift has been out of service since October 14.

Patricia Walker, 52, added: “It’s getting to the stage where people are going to start shouting and hold back their rent.

“When you phone the council they’re quite rude.

“I’m really quite depressed about it. It’s not fair on the tenants, it’s just not good enough.

“They are supposed to phone every Friday to check up on people but they’ve only done it once.

“There’s been lots of problems with the lift before. It’s always breaking.”

The council said it rings to inform tenants with vulnerabilities about broken lifts, with residents advised to call the housing team for help or support.

A spokeswoman said: “An engineer was called out immediately and numerous attempts have been made since to get the lift working again.

“Unfortunately the repair is not a simple fix. Engineers will return on Monday when a repaired drive is due to arrive and it is expected this will resolve the problem.”

“We are aware of the issues with these old lifts which date back to the 1960s and 1970s and we are doing everything we can to help improve the situation.”

The lift could be replaced in 2014/15, the council said.

Update: As of Monday, November 18, the lifts had been fixed.