A FAMILY is stuck in their home after the door lock broke - and they could face a 24-hour wait to be released.
Peter Neal, 65, his wife Pauline, 60, and their daughter Tina have been unable to leave their home in Observatory Walk since their other daughter Clare went to work this morning.
Mr Neal says the bottom latch on the door has broken, meaning is can no longer be opened. The family live in a terraced house with a railway line behind it meaning they have no means of escape.
The problem means that Miss Neal has been unable to get to work today.
But Mr Neal was stunned when he rang The Guinness Partnership, which runs the house, and was told they could face a 24-hour wait to be released.
He said: "There is nothing the can be done, except maybe taking the whole door off and we can't do that ourselves.
"My wife and my daughter are trapped here with me, I can actually get out of the front window but they can't and 24 hours seems a really long time."
He added: "They are probably going to have to come in through the window to remove the door but 24 hours seems like a very long time."
A spokesman for the Guinness Partnership said the family had called in the problem at 1.45pm. He added that the 24-hour waiting period was the standard response but said someone would be sent to resolve the issue this afternoon.
