The students living in hotels as building delays hit Bristol Uni halls

  • Watch Richard Payne's report

Hundreds of Bristol University students are living in hotels due to delays in the completion of a new accommodation block.

Around 300 first year students are being put up in city hotels while the new building in Redcliffe is finished, with developers meeting the costs.

The university has also admitted an IT failure has prevented students from claiming allowances to cover their daily food bills.

Students were given just a few days' notice that the £200-a-week, self-catered accommodation would not be ready for them to move into.

Meg Abraham, aged 19 and from Swansea, is one of around 170 teenagers being housed in the Marriott Hotel in the city centre.

"It was really disappointing," she told ITV News.

"Now I've got to go back and forth and get my kitchen things (from home). I have to move in once, then move in again, so it's not very straightforward."

She said the lack of clarity around when they can move in has been "confusing" but Bristol University has now confirmed its lease at St Thomas Street looks set to begin on Friday, meaning students can move in over the weekend.

The incomplete Bristol University halls of residence in Redcliffe Credit: ITV

Holly Martins is also staying in a hotel. She said: "You mentally prepare yourself to be going into halls and you make all this prep, about 'I'm going to go to the kitchen, meet my flatmates'... then you're then not there and you think 'how am I going to make friends now?'"

The university told ITV News the sites developers only revealed the property would not be ready with days to spare.

"The developers told us that they were looking at a delay of up to three weeks," said a spokesman. "The developers are paying for the hotel, food provision, etc for affected students. None of this costs the university."

But the spokesperson did apologise for a "technical glitch" which stopped students from accessing food vouchers, stressing it would be resolved quickly.

Meanwhile, more than 100 students have been forced to live in Bath despite studying in Bristol, due to a lack of accommodation.

Two years ago, others were temporarily housed in Newport.