Lifts at a town centre car park in Ashford which broke down 50 times in two years have been closed 'for the foreseeable future' due to safety concerns.

People have been getting stuck in the elevators at the council-run Edinburgh Road car park in recent months and now all three are "out of order" after failing a safety inspection.

An Ashford Borough Council (ABC) spokesman explained: "Due to safety concerns, ABC has taken the decision to close the lifts at Edinburgh Road Car Park.

"Notices have been posted at the car park to inform users.

"The decision was taken after a safety inspection and as new parts will need to be ordered and fitted, the lifts will remain closed until the foreseeable future as public safety is of paramount concern to the council.

"The council apologises to car park users for the inconvenience caused and advise that the surface car parks at Vicarage Lane, Elwick Road and Elwick Place be used as an alternative.

"Once we have an update on when the lifts will be usable again, we will make a further announcement.

“We are currently obtaining a range of quotes to enable the repair works to be completed and the lifts at Edinburgh Road car park to be brought back into full use.”

While the lifts are out of order, the car park itself will remain open.

In 2020, there were calls for the council to take “urgent action” to replace the three lifts after it emerged they broke down 53 times between them in just two years.

Speaking at the time, frustrated resident Mick Carr, from Kingsnorth, 74, said: “I think it is about time the council replaced the lifts in the Edinburgh Road car park.

“I am told they are over 30 years old and they keep breaking down.

“If you are someone like me who has had to park on the top floor it is no joke. ABC must take responsibility for its properties.

“There is always at least one of the three out of action but even when they are, they bang and creak, not giving you much confidence in their safety."

When the lifts are out of order, visitors are instead encouraged to use the stairwell. However, it is a route that is regularly targeted by vandals and has previously been likened to a 'drug den'.

In a bid to reduce crime, CCTV cameras were installed in April on the stairs and at the Elwick Place leisure complex as part of the Safer Streets Project.

Six electric vehicle charging points (EVCPs) have also been installed in the Edinburgh Road car park.

Ashford Borough Council said it started a programme to install the chargers throughout the borough in bid to "accelerate the transition to cleaner modes of transportation".

The authority added: "We were successful in obtaining funding to install new EVCPs in some of our car parks.

"The installation began at the end of May in Edinburgh Road Car Park with six 7 kilowatt charge points across 12 bays, located on the second floor.”

Electric car users can use the charging points through an app called 'ev dot' and it costs 39p per kilowatt to charge from the seven kilowatt ports.

More are expected to be installed around Ashford in the future.