A large number of elderly people live in Wilbury Grange block of flats in Hove and they are dependent on the lifts to take them up and down the seven floors because the stairs are too much for them to cope with.

It was unforgivable, therefore, that for three weeks a lift in this block was more or less out of service and an elderly gentleman was unable to leave his flat.

The managing agent, Playfield Management, was supposed to deal with this but failed to take action.

The lift company, Ascent, was asked by the residents' association to service and repair the faulty life and was told Playfield would have to sanction the cost of doing the work before anything could be done.

In despair, the elderly gentleman's son offered to pay for the lift repairs out of his own pocket.

Ascent agreed to the terms but when the engineer called to carry out the work he was so embarrassed by the situation he waived the charges (people like him are few and far between).

That highlights the scandal of managing agents controlling the purse strings of money that the residents have paid to them.

-Derek Keller, Wilbury Grange, Wilbury Road, Hove