There are fears elderly and blind residents could be unable to leave their block of flats to get food after the lift broke down.

Those living in Margaret Court, Herne Bay, have been forced to use the stairs - with Canterbury City Council officers working to get the lift fixed "as quickly as possible".

Residents learnt the lift was out of service on Friday when letters were put across the block of flats.

Engineers found a problem during the afternoon following a routine inspection and it cannot be used for safety reasons.

However, there are concerns the block's residents - including elderly and blind people - will be unable to leave the complex to get food.

But the city council insists its officers are working to put support in place for tenants who need it.

Jim Allen, 67, who has lived in Margaret Court for five years, told how engineers were also working on the lift last week but it was fixed.

"On Friday morning, I came out and there were stickers over the buttons," he said.

"I had to walk down seven flights and saw some guys working on the lift.

"I said, ‘Are you going to be working on it long?’ and he said, ‘No, it won’t be long’. I came back and it was fixed."

But then in the afternoon, letters had been put around the block informing residents the lift was shut.

"Due to an inspection carried out today I have had to close the lift at Margaret Court," a city council compliance and servicing officer wrote.

"The lift will remain closed until further repair work has been completed.

"The organisation of this work has started today [February 4] and I will write to you again on Tuesday informing you of my progress."

Mr Allen, who admitted he is "not in the best of health", said he had to walk up and down seven flights of stairs with bags of shopping.

"We have blind people and people with breathing difficulties here and they are not getting out," he added. "I’ve not seen a soul.

"Some of the people here are 90-odd and there are eight floors in this block.

"The letter says on Tuesday they will let us know of the progress, but how do they expect people to get out to get food?"

A Canterbury City Council spokesman said a routine inspection late on Friday afternoon found a problem with the lift in Margaret Court which means it cannot be used for safety reasons.

"Engineers will be onsite [on Thursday] to fix the lift at Margaret Court which was put out of action for safety reasons," they said.

"Once their checks have been carried out, and barring any unforeseen problems, we expect the lift to be operating by close of play on Friday.

"In the meantime, officers have worked hard to talk to every tenant in the building, assess their needs and do all we can to arrange help including with getting shopping and attending long-awaited hospital appointments.

"We have been grateful for the positive comments received from tenants about the support we've provided during this time.

"We will let tenants know as soon as the lift is up and running again and apologise for any inconvenience its closure has caused."