Scared residents in a block of flats fear their homes could be a “Grenfell waiting to happen” with engineers allegedly failing to fix their only fire exit, which they say is always jammed shut.

Residents at Chiltern Heights, off White Lion Road, Little Chalfont, say they have had “ongoing issues” with a communal door in the block, owned by Paradigm Housing, which is used by around 16 people in eight flats.

Nichola Field, who lives on the top floor with her five-yearold son, said she fears for their safety in case of an emergency, like a fire, which would leave her and others using the door unable to escape.

However, at the time of going to print residents were hopeful of the issue finally being resolved, with the housing association appearing to bow to pressure and sending an engineer out to assess the situation within hours of the Bucks Free Press making contact.

The 30-year-old said: “It is our only way in and out of the building and also our only fire exit.

“A delivery driver got stuck inside a couple of weeks ago – it could have been one of us that could have become trapped. I saw a Paradigm Housing van and flagged it down but the driver said it was nothing to do with them and I would have to call head office who would get a third party to come out.

“We eventually had to call the fire brigade to get the poor man out. We have had to call them a few times.

“We shouldn’t have needed to call the fire brigade.”

It comes after a horror blaze in Grenfell Tower in west London last month engulfed the high-rise tower block, so far thought to have killed at least 81 people.

Ms Field said the lock on the door was also broken, allegedly allowing vandals to get in and cause damage.

Paradigm Housing said it was aware of the problems with the door and has attended “several times” over the past few months.

Ms Field added: “It is quite worrying that if the door can get trapped like that and that is our only fire exit – if there is a fire in the communal stairwell, how can anyone get out?

“It is something that is pretty serious that needs to be addressed. We have called Paradigm sever times over the last nine months or so but they have not done anything.

“It’s awful and we just gave up in the end. It is a shame I have had to do this publicly for them to do something about it.

“This landlord neglect has been going on for years. It’s Grenfell waiting to happen.”

Paradigm Housing spokesman Anne Michael said: “We are aware of some ongoing issues with the door to this block at Chiltern Heights.

“We have attended several times over the last few months to find that the door has been vandalised.

“We have had an engineer on site today (Thursday) to assess the latest problem which, again, is due to vandalism. We have asked our contractors to repair it as soon as possible.”