Our high-rise dream has become a nightmare

Faulty lifts and vandalism blight block

- By DAVID HUMPHREYS

THE dream of living in a tower looking out onto the River Mersey and Liverpool city centre has turned into a nightmare for dozens of people left without vital lifts in a block tarnished by vandalism and disorder.

Mill View Tower in Dingle has provided housing in L8 since the 1960s, with views from the top floor looking out over to the Wirral and North Wales in the distance.

The ECHO revealed earlier this month how lifts in the building have been out of order for so long, those living in the flats had taken it upon themselves to raise the money needed to get them fixed. Now, residents have spoken of their anger, fear and frustration at the state their tower has been left in.

Concerns were raised about conditions inside the block almost a decade ago according to Liverpool Council, with temperatures inside considered to potentially be a risk to tenants’ health. This led to a letting agent being convicted on 13 separate licensing charges in 2017.

It is understood around £10,000 of unbudgeted costs has been incurred for call outs and repairs in the first half of this year alone at Mill View. The two lifts inside the building have been out of action for four and seven months respectively.

Kieran Jackson has lived at Mill View for a decade with his wife and daughter.

He said: “Something could have been done about this years ago, but nothing has. It's got to the point where we as residents are coming together to sort it.”