A frustrated mum is finding her difficult commute to London has been made even harder after a broken lift at St Albans station has been left neglected for weeks.

Lucy Askem, 35, of Brecken Close St Albans, commutes to her job at Great Ormond Street Hospital with her 18 month old son Thomas.

A month long stint without the help of the lift has made her journey with a buggy all that more stressful, but she says the lack of lift doesn’t only affect her.

Lucy added: “It inconveniences a whole load of customers. Those like me with a buggy, those with heavy luggage and those less able or in a wheelchair.

“My mum is disabled and there would be no way she could get in to the central platform at St Albans.”

Lucy, who is a biomedical scientist at the children’s hospital, helping diagnose potentially life-limiting illnesses, now has to rely on other busy commuters to help her with the stairs.

“Health and safety really goes out the window! Invariably the station staff are just too busy to help or they are not allowed to as it’s not in their job description.

“As you can imagine this puts a huge stress on me before my day has even begun. There also is no apology by the lift or an explanation as to what is wrong and how it may be fixed.

“You would think that with a new train company taking over that they might do more to help customer satisfaction and take pride in their company.”

At her wits’ end, Lucy has tried to contact countless people about getting the lift fixed but has had no response.

She added: “And as for speaking to the staff at St Albans, my husband and I have had mixed responses to the lift problem.

“Initially I was told ‘we are just waiting for a spare part’, then my husband was told that the lift was full of dead pigeons and the engineer won’t come until they are cleared.

“I’ve tried speaking with the station manager, but he never seems to be where I am. I have also emailed Thameslink with no reply.

“If it cannot be fixed immediately then perhaps there should be staff manning the lift and helping customers like myself, or will they only take notice when someone falls down the stairs with a buggy or luggage?”

A spokeswoman for National Rail said: “We apologise for the lift at St Albans station being out of use and expect to complete the necessary repairs by October 17.”