Heavy rain has flooded a car park and left a lift out of service for weeks in a South Woodford block of flats.

The lift in the Coral Court building at the Queen Mary's Gate development, which holds more than 300 flats, has been broken since before Christmas after water poured into it.

There is also a large amount of mould in the lobby of the building leading to the car park.

South Woodford Flood

After the Ilford Recorder contacted Clarion Housing about the matter, it was fixed on Thursday (January 21) but residents are furious it took so long to get it repaired and fear it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

Ron Murrain, who has lived there since the development opened in 2010, said: "This is the third time this has happened since last February and it's outrageous.

"The car park is constantly flooded with dirty, stagnant water and a few of us residents had to help carry a disabled person up the stairs to the flat while the lift wasn't working."

Ilford Recorder: Residents say there are persistent flooding problems at the Queen Mary's Gate development, which opened in 2010.Residents say there are persistent flooding problems at the Queen Mary's Gate development, which opened in 2010. (Image: Google Maps)

A spokesperson for Clarion apologised for the inconvenience caused by the flooding, which took the lift out of service.

They said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority and our contractors have been to site this week to drain the flooded area and are working hard to get the lift working as soon as possible.

"Residents can be assured we are working to identify the root cause of the problem and will be carrying out some excavation work this week to fully assess the drainage system so we can implement a permanent solution to prevent any further disruption.”

Residents were annoyed the lift was allowed to be out of service for so long and are tired of the temporary solutions put in place.

Mr Murrain added: "Why hasn't this been considered an emergency by Clarion? The damage in some flats was so bad they had to be decanted from the property.

"We are being treated very badly by this organisation and we are not going to accept any further nonsense."

Residents in a nearby shared housing block in Ash Way, Woodford Green have had similar problems with their ground floor car park and garden being consumed by sewage water multiple times a year.