Repairs planned for failing lifts and escalators at Torquay’s Fleet Walk

Failing lifts and escalators which have left the top floor of a Torquay shopping centre off limits to some shoppers will soon be fixed.

The upper floor of the Fleet Walk shopping centre has been out of bounds during the summer for people who are unable to use the stairs.

Now Torbay Council’s deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) says the facilities are on the to-do list.

Cllr Nick Pentney (Lib Dem, Tormohun) said there had been broken lifts and escalators for months throughout the summer, and he added: “With no repairs in sight, local shoppers, residents and businesses are being let down.

“Why has the administration failed to act, and what is being done to urgently address this?”

Cllr Lewis said the equipment was now more than 30 years old, and the council had spent a considerable sum of money over the last few years repairing and replacing failing parts.

The council bought the centre from its private owners in 2019.

“This has become worse in recent months,” he said. “We have spent significant sums of money only to find a few weeks later that further faults arise or parts need replacing.

“Given the age of the plant, our contractors in many cases are now having to seek the bespoke manufacture of specific parts as they are no longer available. This has resulted in the repeated closure of the escalators and lengthy delays whilst we await parts.”

He said it was not sustainable to go on spending money on plant which was beyond the end of its economic life. A review, he said, was under way to come up with a range of options and costs.

Parts are currently on order to fix the lifts, and a temporary repair is planned on the escalator beside Sports Direct.

“We have been trying to keep them going, but there comes a time when those parts are just no longer available,” added Cllr Lewis. “Clearly with all the work we are doing on regeneration, that site in Fleet Walk is going to be extremely popular. It is only right and proper that we put the lifts and escalators right.”