An elderly woman at a Mosta home fractured her leg last week when she was forced to use the stairs because the two lifts in the building were not working, according to residents.

They claim the lift has not been functional for more than 10 years and the stretcher lift used instead is often out of order. Parliamentary Secretariat for the Elderly Mario Galea confirmed that a woman sustained fractures but insisted she fell while walking towards the corridor after climbing the stairs.

“She sustained a fracture and is in a stable condition,” a spokesman said, adding that Mr Galea was “very concerned ” about the incident and was monitoring the situation closely.

Residents complained of fatigue from climbing stairs. The spokesman would not say whether the lift had been unused for more than a decade, but admitted it was “officially certified beyond repair in August last year”.

“It is a small one that has been problematic for a couple of years,” he said, adding that the Department for the Elderly was waiting for a call for tenders to replace it.

The spokesman said the stretcher lift was being used as an alternative, but acknowledged it was also exper-iencing technical problems.

“Regretfully, the stretcher lift started encountering technical problems in July and was constantly being repaired as necessary,” he said.

In October, the secretariat commissioned an independent technical expert to “advise and assist accordingly”. A call for tenders was subsequently published, today being the closing date.