FIRST some flats were damp, now the lifts serving them will be out of action for weeks.

Residents at the Winnall tower blocks have been left with no option but to climb up to eight storeys of stairs.

Winchester City Council is refitting the lifts in all four buildings, which date to the 1960s.

Each block only has one lift, and the work is taking several weeks in each tower.

Braxton House was completed just before Easter, and engineers have now moved to Craddock House.

After that, they will focus on Dennett and Earle Houses during the summer.

The council confirmed that some disabled and infirm residents had been moved temporarily during the works.

But everybody else is staying, which has left some tenants with a small mountain to climb.

It includes 21-year-old receptionist Katie Pearce, who lives on the seventh floor of Craddock House.

She now has to tackle seven flights of stairs with her 14-month-old son, Callum Oakley.

She said: “The council won’t do anything for us unless we class ourselves as disabled or in pain, which I think is ridiculous as there is no way we can manage seven flights of stairs each day for up to ten weeks.

“My partner and I have a one-year-old son, who is not yet walking, and trying to carry him with lots of bags and a pushchair is a nightmare.”

The council has provided a caretaker at the building to help with carrying items up and down the stairs.

But Ms Pearce said the caretaker was not always available, especially during the evening.

It comes after several complaints about damp flats at the tower blocks.

The council’s cabinet housing committee met earlier this month (April) and agreed to modernise the heating.

Members heard that hundreds of complaints were made across the district this winter, including at the flats.

However, in most cases, housing officers said the main reason was the way that tenants used their properties.

For instance, many dry clothes indoors, others have lots of furniture in small spaces, while some leave windows closed for weeks on end, trapping moist air.

The council will be writing to all tenants in the coming weeks with advice on combating damp.

In the meantime, residents at Craddock House are still being left with several flights of stairs to climb.

A council spokeswoman said: “We have a caretaker there, and have offered alternative accommodation to any people who can’t manage without the lift on medical grounds.”

She added that each refit would cost £62,000, making £248,000 in total, and the final one should be finished by October.