Man falls down a lift shaft in Luton

Officers were called to the scene at 6.30pm and a number of roads in the town centre were closed while emergency services dealt with the incident.

A spokesperson for the East of England Air Ambulance Service said: “The East of England Ambulance Service Trust was called at 6.26pm on Tuesday to reports that a man had fallen down a lift shaft, at a property on King Street in Luton.

“An ambulance, two rapid response vehicles and the East Anglian Air ambulance attended.

“A man was taken to St Mary’s hospital by land ambulance with serious injuries to his head and pelvis.”

Posts on the Bedfordshire Police Facebook say the police may have been able to prevent the incident by responding to 999 calls made earlier that day.

One person commented: “This man was a drunk homeless man drinking on the street causing nuisance to the neighbours!

“The police were called at 5.30pm as a 999 call for the anti social behaviour that has been going on for some weeks now and got told that this was not an emergency and was to call 101.

“Maybe if you had acted on the 999 calls that have been made over the coming weeks on entering this building which isn’t and hasn’t been deemed safe for anyone to enter!

“If you had answered the 999 call for anti social behaviour, drinking on the streets outside people’s accommodation shouting and threatening people then this may not have happened!”

A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Police said: “We received a 999 call at 5.30pm on yesterday (Tuesday), however no further information was provided to police in the call about the reason for calling.

“The caller stated that it was not an emergency so they would ring back on 101, however no further contact was received from them.

“We were then called at 6.30pm to reports that a man had fallen down a lift shaft in a property in Kind Street.

“Emergency Services immediately attended and the man was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

“Officers investigated the circumstances surrounding the man’s fall but have deemed it to be non-suspicious and there will be no further investigation.

“Police had recently visited the building after receiving reports that people were breaking into it, however when officers checked it was found to be empty.

“Officers contacted the council following the visit and the building was subsequently secured.

“The building has been secured again following yesterday’s incident.”