AROUND 200 university students are demanding compensation due to ongoing issues with their accommodation in Bournemouth.

As reported in the Daily Echo last month, there has been a string of problems with the hot water supply at Lyme Regis House, with one student reporting she had no access to hot water for three weeks.

Then, a burst pipe caused boiling water to leak through several flats, and forced the evacuation of the Tesco store below.

Campus Living Villages, which operates the block in Holdenhurst Road, said afterwards it was “monitoring the situation” and had “worked hard to resolve the problems” with the hot water supply.

However, psychology student Iris Weighill told the Echo that the situation at Lyme Regis House, which is home to around 400 undergraduates, had got “drastically worse”.

She created a petition calling for all students to be compensated, and it has already gathered nearly 200 signatures.

She said further leaks had been affecting flats and students had not been able to use their bathroom facilities or access fresh water for days at a time while problems were fixed.

Affected students have been told to use a staff toilet or facilities at nearby student accommodation blocks, she said.

“The issues at Lyme Regis House only just start with the water but, in reality, there are far more issues going on here to the point where my health is being severely affected as a result of the poor living conditions here,” Iris said.

“No effort has been made to compensate us, and there have been issues since September. Every time we make a complaint we’re told ‘people are coming out’. I pay more than £135 a week for my room and it’s crazy what we’re going through. My biggest hope with this petition is that all students will be given compensation.”

Iris said that as well as the issues with hot water, there have been reports of tap water “coming out white” in some students’ rooms.

Additional issues reported have included unreliable washing machines and tumble dryers, she said, with washing “coming out almost soaking wet after three tumble dries”.

A spokesperson from Campus Living Villages said: “We understand how frustrating it is for residents at Lyme Regis House that there have been periods without hot water. As soon as we were made aware of the issues with water temperature we worked hard to resolve the problems as quickly as possible. Whilst fixing the issue we’ve needed to isolate water supply to areas of the building for short periods of time, during which bottled water has been made available for residents.

“We have put in additional communication measures in order to respond to each complaint on a one-to-one basis and our Village Managers are always available to speak to any resident who has concerns.”