Cardiff University apologises as students claim belongings are being thrown away during lockdown

Cardiff University has apologised to students who claim belongings have been thrown away from their halls of residence during the lockdown.

Posts from students on social media claim they returned to collect belongings, only to find many of their items had been removed.

The posts included photographs that showed a large amount of black bags, containing items such as kitchen utensils, outside of various buildings.

One first year student, Charlotte Towlson, told ITV News she returned to pick up her things only to find there were only four items left.

Charlotte said, "The only things left of mine were a knife, two plates and a tea towel. All of my pans and other things have been binned."

The History and Politics student, who lived in halls at Talybont South, but is now living back home with her family in Bath, said a lot of the items were bought for her by her mother who has since passed away.

Charlotte said she had filled out a questionnaire by the university and said she would be coming back to pick up the rest of her items.

Students were informed by the university that only dirty and unusable items would be disposed of to create space at the accommodation for NHS healthcare students.

However, the university since apologised for any "distress caused by the situation" and reiterated that no student should break lockdown rules.

In a statement, it said, "As part of our deep cleaning process, we have needed to dispose some items from shared areas that were unhygienic.

"We recognise we made an error in clearing out one student bedroom. We are dealing with students affected by this on an individual basis, apologising and recompensing where appropriate for any distress or loss incurred."