Emergency service callouts for lift entrapments are on the rise as one tower block in Lewisham received 37 callouts in the last 36 months, according to London Fire Brigade (LFB) data.
Eddystone Tower had the most incidents of any residential building listed in the data since 2022, with total lift release callouts up every year since 2020 and up 29% between 2015-2024.
In the same period, incidents of primary fires (those which have the potential for serious damage to life and property) and secondary fires (generally smaller fires which don’t involve people or property) decreased by 24% and 21% respectively.
One Lewisham resident said: “I’m not surprised about Eddystone.
“I haven’t been trapped in there, but my friend has, it’s crazy how they just leave it like this for so many years.”
Although residential callouts specifically have decreased by just 23 between 2023-24, Eddystone has made news before for the state of its lifts in 2013.
According to the data, Tower Hamlets received the most callouts for such incidents over the period for domestic dwellings,1,547, while Westminster received the most visits overall, 1,808, when including commercial buildings, hospitals etc.
This year has seen over 2,300 callouts already, with Jephson Tower, Southwark, holding the record so far with 11 visits.
This also represents over a third of Jephson House’s 30 visits since 2022, with this year’s results pushing the building into third place for number of LFB lift shut-in incidents in a residential building over the last 36 months.
Over in Kensington and Chelsea, the World’s End Estate, home to around 2,500, has seen 82 callouts in the period, the most for any given road or estate.
The former manager, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, was shut down following the Grenfell fire in 2017.
Its only function since has been to aid the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, with the council taking back into management all of their properties since 2018.
Almost half of these visits are split between two buildings, Dartrey and Greaves Towers.
Whole-year data shows while 15 London boroughs saw a year-on decrease between 2023-24, only four boroughs have seen a decrease in LFB attended residential lift releases since 2022.
Similarly, 16 boroughs have seen a decrease in total lift release incidents with the previous year, however, every single borough has seen a total increase since 2022.
Since 2009, LFB has also been allowed to charge the building owner a £290 fee plus VAT if the same building is visited more than three times over 12 months for non-emergency lift releases, which accounts for around one third of lift shut-ins they attend.
Currently, there is no available data on how much each council has been charged under this scheme.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “As London’s rescue service, the brigade has a statutory responsibility to attend incidents where someone is in medical or physical danger and is trapped in a lift.
“However, around third of the lift rescues attended by the brigade are not emergencies.
“To help minimise the risks to the public and reduce time spent at non-emergencies, our borough teams are in regular contact with responsible persons to provide advice about maintenance, training and communication.”
A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “We know how disruptive and frustrating lift breakdowns are, especially in tall buildings, and deeply regret the inconvenience caused to Eddystone tower residents.
“In May 2024, we completed refurbishment works on both lifts serving Eddystone tower.
“These upgrades focused on replacing components known to fail prematurely or those showing clear signs of wear.
“We also installed new electronic controllers and remote monitoring equipment to help us track and respond to issues more proactively.
“However, the performance of the lifts has still not met the standard we expect. Council officers, the cabinet member and our contractors met with resident representatives recently to ensure residents remain well informed about our progress.
“Our lift maintenance contractors are continuing to analyse the monitoring information in order to plan further upgrades to improve the reliability of the lifts.”
A Southwark Council spokesperson said: “We are aware there have been reliability issues with the lift in question at Jephson House and we sorry for any distress and inconvenience that it has caused residents.
“Earlier in the year Southwark carried out repairs on the control panel which has so far remedied the problem.
“Given the lift is over 30 years old we are looking to carry out further works on it to bring it up to modern standards.”
Kensington & Chelsea Council were contacted for comment.
Featured image: Oscar Herbert-Maynard
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