Elderly tenants have been trapped in their homes for three weeks because their lift has broken down.

They are unable to get out because they live at the top of a five-storey block of flats in Hove and cannot manage the stairs.

One man is recovering from a stomach operation and another tenant is a heart bypass patient.

The block's owners say they are powerless to do anything until the part needed to repair the lift arrives from Germany.

Pensioner Owen White has lived at Oliver House, Fourth Avenue, for six years.

He came out of hospital two weeks ago after a stomach operation and arrived home to find the lift out of order.

He said: "I can't manage flights of stairs. So I have to stay in all the time and rely on neighbours to do my shopping for me.

"My legs are starting to swell because I can't get out to exercise and it is affecting my circulation."

Neighbour John MacDonald has been left weakened by a heart bypass operation nine years ago.

He said: "I can't get out at all unless the lift is working and I have had to stay inside the flat for nearly four weeks.

"We keep phoning the housing association which owns the building but they say they are waiting for the parts to come from Germany."

Elena Brooks, 75, came to the rescue of her neighbours by getting shopping for them.

Mr Brooks said: "I have to carry it up flights of stairs and, at my age, it is not easy. I don't know from one day to the next if I will be well enough to keep doing it.

"There are quite a few elderly people living here who also rely on the lift as well as families with young children.

"Every time we speak to Southern Housing about it we get the same answer but that does not help us.

"Things can now be delivered from the other side of the world within a few days. So we can't understand why it has taken nearly a month for these parts to be delivered."

Paul Smith, of Horsham-based Southern Housing Group, said: "It is of great concern to us the lift has been out of operation for so long. We are sorry the residents have been inconvenienced and appreciate the problems they are experiencing.

"Our lift engineers were unable to get the parts they needed from Germany and have been looking at alternative solutions. One was to replace the main motor but that would have taken eight weeks to obtain, which was clearly unsatisfactory.

"They have now found a specialist workshop and the lift mechanism has been sent there for repair. We expect the lift to be working again by early next week.

"We have a compensation scheme for residents for situations which cannot be resolved within 48 hours and we will be sending letters to everyone at Oliver House advising them how to make a claim if they want to."