RESIDENTS of Shirley Towers told today of their shock at the deaths of the two men who plunged more than 70ft down a lift shaft.

Tenants had to struggle down stairs at the 15-storey tower block today, as police kept the lifts sealed off ready for inspection by health and safety officials.

Michelle Dadswell, 24, said: "I'm going to go down to the council and tell them I don't want to come home - I want to move somewhere else now.

"In the past six months I've been evacuated because of the fire. I know it was an accident, but there's no one to help you go out when you need to get up and down 13 flights of stairs with three young kids."

Flo Bunney, 68, said: "I can't get out at all. I can get down but I can't get back up. I can't understand why the lift doors opened like that. It's a bit scary."

Dennis Benjamin, 39, who has a six-year-old son, Jo, said: "It's scary. I just can't believe what happened. I'm going to the council to try to get a transfer from here. I thought it was safe until this."

Karen McCarthy, 30, said: "It's terrible, but this block should've been knocked down years ago. I hate living here. With the fire last year, I just don't feel safe."

Debbie Ixer, 32, said: "There are elderly people and people with kids and buggies who are just stuck because they can't get out with the lifts not working. The council should do something about it."

One man who did not wish to be named, but whose ex-girlfriend lives in the block, said: "It's a regular occurrence up here - kids fighting. It's terrible, it really is. I don't think there's a night that goes by without my ex waking up in the middle of the night because of the noise and fighting.''

Andrew Olding, 18, whose girlfriend lives on the ninth floor, said: "There are parties every weekend on the seventh floor. The lift doors are terrible anyway - the doors are hinged at the top but at the bottom they're all loose.

"You imagine if some kids were mucking about and banged into the doors.

"The stairs are all slippery and wet but there are no signs warning people.''

Chris Haines, 56, who lives on the ninth floor, said: "The lift door gave way because of the way the doors are built here. The lift doors have been kicked in so many times.

"It was a matter of time before something like this happened."

Sam Lendon, 35, whose 11-year-old daughter, Ashleigh, has asthma, added: "It's about time something was done with those lifts. Hopefully they'll open up the one that wasn't affected. We live high up and my daughter was wheezing this morning using the stairs."

Resident Serena Rebbeck, 21, said: "The doors of the lifts are faulty and something should definitely be done about this place to remedy the faults. It's not very healthy. I really cannot get over it. Now they are saying that all the 150 families with children have got to use the stairs. God knows when they will get the lifts sorted.''

An elderly resident who delcined to be named said: "I've got asthma and have got to get up to the ninth floor. I have got to stop for five minutes at every floor and I only came out of hospital ten days ago.''