Any way to fix this attic trap door?

[NewspaperTaxis]

Hi, this trap door has been underused the past few decades - it's in the bathroom and leads to the loft. A builder helpfully fixed the latch a couple of years ago, because it wouldn't click shut so had to be left handing down - it worked okay after that. The current problem is worse, as it simply won't open at all, meaning a plumber can't get into the loft if a problem arises with the central heating...

Normally it opens by pushing the trapdoor up slightly, with your hand or the end of a walking stick, which undoes the latch - it closes in the same way.

We wondered if the last painter had painted over it, impeding any movement, but that doesn't appear to be it, as we've gone at it with a Stanley knife.

Is there a way of getting into the loft without hacking apart the whole thing and installing a new one? Tbf the current one is a bit iffy because it is really heavy and if the latch did suddenly go, it could come crashing down on someone's head and kill them outright.

The latch must have failed. You could drill a small hole in it so you can hook an L shaped implement in and see if a hard tug will open it? Better than hacking it open.

Could something heavy have fallen on it?

Well, the heavy trap door came crashing down of its own accord - thankfully in the early hours of the morning otherwise it would have killed someone.

Guess we will be looking to replace it rather than mend it - it's so heavy, I don't want our lives to be put in the hands of a tradesmen who may or may not be doing a good job on the day replacing the latch.

If it's a standard size, new attic doors aren't actually that expensive, so I'd replace it.