A housing association has been accused of incompetence after a broken entry buzzer on a block of flats went unrepaired for more than a month.

The tradesman’s buzzer at 19-25 Oxhey Drive has been out of action for five weeks now, meaning residents are unable to have their post delivered when they are not in.

Thrive Homes said the buzzer would finally be fixed tomorrow (Thursday) after the original contractor order sent out in July “went missing”.

Cllr Steve Cox has asked Thrive to offer a token discount on residents’ rent due to the inconvenience caused, although this request has been rejected.

“This is most unsatisfactory. There has been and continues to be considerable inconvenience endured by the residents of these flats,” he said.

“They are not getting the service they are paying for. Thrive can’t even recognise their own incompetence - it’s farcical.”

Thrive apologised for the delay in repairing the broken buzzer, saying in a statement: "We are sorry for any inconvenience caused while the trades entry button has not been working. We are looking into why the original repair report was not actioned in the usual way.

"The individual door entry buttons for the four flats are in working order, and in such circumstances it is not unusual for post to be delivered by ringing the flats direct.

"When this repair was reported again on August 10, an appointment was made for our contractor to fix it tomorrow (Thursday). With this type of job, we would aim to get the repair done within 60 working days of it being reported.

"We would not offer a rent reduction in relation to this repair."