This in from the council, in their own words. Ed
The lift, which is closed due to health and safety reasons relating to the walkway at the top of the cliff, was scheduled to re-open tomorrow (21 July). Workers have now removed the old walkway and replaced it with a temporary structure to enable it to open for the summer tourism season.
However, as part of the process to re-open the lift, a health and safety inspection must take place on the whole lift but couldn’t be carried out until the walkway had been installed. During this inspection, the fault with the lift control system was discovered meaning the lift cannot open until the fault is rectified.
A specialist lift company is on the Island and working on the problem.
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Isle of Wight Council Leader, said:
“It is frustrating this fault has been discovered, particularly after the hard work that has gone into ensuring the temporary footbridge was installed ahead of schedule, however this is what health and safety checks are designed to do.
“We simply cannot open the lift until the health and safety inspection has been completed and signed off.
“We have said all along the 21 July opening date is subject to change due to any problems being found and this is what has happened.
“However engineers are on site and working to rectify any problems and we are very hopeful the lift will be re-opened shortly.”
Once the council has confirmation on when the lift will be re-opened, it will issue an update via its website and social media pages.
