A DISABLED woman was stuck in a building for five hours after firefighters said there would be a £500 charge for her to be rescued.

Michaela Avenati – who has cerebral palsy – was left stranded at the top of six flights of stairs after the lift broke down at the second floor The Nerve Centre charity in Standard House on Half Moon Street.

Firefighters who attended the scene told how it would cost £500 to £600 for them to help Michaela down the stairs.

He said: “Michaela is still shocked by what happened. Because she has cerebral palsy she has emotional and mental needs and she got very stressed and upset.

“She’s very vulnerable and she can’t do anything for herself – she can’t even propel her wheelchair.”

Managers at the centre – a charity set up in 2005 to support people living with neurological conditions – decided not to pay the money and wait for someone to come and fix the lift.

But five hours later when the lift engineer didn’t turn up they were forced to agree to pay the money.

Firefighters returned to the scene and carried 30-year-old Michaela in her wheelchair down the stairs.

Father-of-four Malcolm – who is an evacuation specialist – said he doesn’t blame anyone for what happened.

He said the firefighters and the centre managers were both very helpful but he is concerned there was not an alternative way to evacuate disabled people from the building.

He said: “Fortunately this was not a fire situation. If it had been, the story could well have been that a disabled woman died in a fire.

“It was potentially very serious and if there had been a fire and other people were trying to get out at the same time., it could have been a major catastrophe.

“There was no evacuation plan and no-one had any training in how to get a wheelchair user out of the building – even though she was up six flights of stairs.

“This is a situation that exists in many, many buildings throughout the country and it is time someone heard about it.”

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire Service told the Examiner: “We always respond to emergency situations and there is no charge for the service provided.

“However, as is the case with most fire and rescue services, we do have a policy of charging for special service calls such as rescues from lifts or when a lift is out-of-order.

“We do not charge individuals who may be in the lift. We follow Government guidance and charge the companies which are responsible for the lift.

“The circumstances involving the incident at the Nerve Centre were not deemed to be an emergency and, as in all cases of this nature, a full assessment of the circumstances of the case will be undertaken before any decision to charge the company is made.”

No-one was available at The Nerve Centre for comment.

This article was clarified on 07/02/12.