A disabled man is struggling to leave his home as a broken lift forces him to take the stairs.

Callum Kennedy lives in a third floor flat in Dartford and uses a wheelchair to get around due to a chronic pain condition which affects his legs and causes mobility issues.

Although the 23-year-old can walk with a stick, he cannot do so for long periods without feeling a "burning" sensation in his legs.

He chose to live in the flat in Phoenix Place because it had a lift, meaning he could come and go easily. But since moving in April 2021, it has broken at least 10 times, according to Callum.

When it is out of action, what should be a less than five minute journey takes Callum around 20 minutes.

To get his wheelchair down the stairs he must dismantle it, ask someone else to carry the parts down, walk the six flights and then reassemble the chair at the bottom.

Last week, Callum even had to call the fire service out to help him down the stairs as no neighbours were able to lend him a hand.

He said: "It is such a nightmare. It makes it really difficult to go out and do anything.

"I have to get help from the care taker and take my chair apart so he can take it down. Then I have to get myself down the stairs and put it back together again.

"It is a lot of heavy parts to manage. It takes a lot of my energy to do that and then when I have to go out and do what I wanted. It is exhausting.

"It makes it a whole lot harder every time I want to go out. If I have a carer with me they cannot help as they are not trained to take the chair apart and usually they are not strong enough.

"It is not on. The caretaker helps me but that is not his job and he should not be doing it

"It is not safe. The housing association should not put that responsibility on the care taker. It is ridiculous.

"If something happened, I would feel awful and feel as though it was my fault but it would be CDS'. They should provide adequate solutions.

"I should be able to access my own home, it is ridiculous. I only took this property because of the lift. That was the main reason I moved here.

"It causes me a lot of pain to walk which is not needed. If the lift worked it would not happen at all."

The lift has currently been out of action for two weeks and was expected to be fixed by Tuesday.

A note from housing association CDS Co-Operatives – which owns the building – reads: "Dear residents, Your lift is temporarily out of service.

"We are working hard to get it back and running as quickly as possible. A lift engineer from OTIS has been contacted and will be on site within 24 hours."

Callum has now grown frustrated at the lack of permanent action being taken to fix the ongoing issue.

"When it does happen they are not quick to come out and fix it," he said. "I have suggested they get a spare part rather than waiting for one to be delivered. I have said the lift could be replaced.

"It is frustrating how often this happens. They do fix it but it just breaks down again. I have been on the phone and told them that this is unacceptable.

"This is the last straw. Something has got to change now. Why do they think it is acceptable?"

CDS Co-Operatives has been contacted for comment.