People are furious about the way it took months for a broken lift in a leisure centre to be repaired.

Three Rivers District Council only fixed the lift at the William Penn Centre in Mill End when the Watford Observer got in touch.

Cllr David Sansom had raised the issue at a full council meeting the week before, but the authority said it was still waiting for a circuit board to be delivered.

Cllr Sansom added that he had been told by users that they had been told the lift was “too old for repair”.

The lift has been out of action for months and one parent said she gave up sending her children to swimming classes at the leisure centre because she was forced to take her buggy down the steps.

Chloe Baker, from Rickmansworth, said: “The stairs were just so difficult and I rarely received help. I have twins, aged two, and one time I took the buggy down and when I got to the pool, I was told to put shoe covers on all twelve wheels.

“I lost it that day and haven’t been back since. I need the twins in the buggy to keep them safe while I dress my other children. I made complaints but the lift just never got fixed. It’s just ridiculous.”

Cllr Sansom added: “If a lift is there, it should work. Why can’t the council seem bothered to fix it. If someone has mobility issues, what are they supposed to do? It stops people going. It acts as a barrier for them.”

TRDC said it was the responsibility of SLM, the leisure management contractor to mend and the delay in the repair was because a part had to be ordered be from Greece, but when it was installed the lift still didn’t work.

A council spokeswoman said: “One of the major issues has been that the lift is a Greek Model and parts need to be ordered from Greece. The lift company initially identified that the door controller was the issue.

“This part was ordered and installed but it was still not operational. A main control unit was ordered and has now been installed.”

SLM says it is unaware of anyone not using the centre because of the broken lift, and said it had given people access to the pool through the first aid room.

Staff were also on hand to help customers down the stairs.

The lift was fixed last Thursday, just three days after the Watford Observer contacted TRDC.