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Nottingham Trent students left ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘humiliated’ after Uni accommodation forces them into portable showers near bins

Hampden Halls or Glastonbury festival?

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Trent students living in Hampden Halls were left in a shower crisis, after they were forced to use portable bathrooms. This was due to dangerous bacterial levels in their flats' water system.

15 flats in the city centre were left without proper facilities for two weeks, after the accommodation removed their shower heads from the shared bathrooms to stop them from being used.

Students were contacted via email, being told that a fault in their water tanks had led to high bacteria levels, although the kitchen water was safe to drink.

Criminology student Ellie Hunt was left extremely embarrassed after having to “leave the accommodation, cross a public road to get the keys and then shower outside, behind the bins in the early hours of the morning.
“Leaving the showers with wet hair and again having to walk down in public is even worse.

“As a girl I felt humiliated. I felt stared at and just genuinely uncomfortable”.

The students affected were notified that they would receive compensation for the days that they were without showers. The reimbursement will come in the form of a reduced rent instalment due in January. One-week compensation is summed to £113.26.

Jack Proverbs, a Journalism student living in the residence, admitted that, “The compensation is acceptable now that it’s finally been confirmed how much we are receiving.

“It was ridiculous we weren’t told about it until people complained and only did it, they phrased, as an act of ‘good will’”.

Not all students were so critical of the predicament however; Iman Shahid, a first-year Business Management with Accounting and Finance student, admits, “The portable bathrooms weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be.

“I woke up early to be one of the first ones to shower.”

Iman was one of the first to receive back the showers, acknowledging “Luckily, we only had ours off for about a week.

“I feel bad for everyone else who had to continue using other facilities because they have to go weeks without their showers.”

A university spokesperson for UPP, the organisation responsible for overseeing the student halls on behalf of Nottingham Trent University, said: “During routine testing and maintenance at Hampden accommodation, a water hygiene issue was identified in the form of unacceptable bacterial levels.

“The health and wellbeing of our students is our first priority and both NTU and UPP acted quickly, in communicating to students and working to resolve the situation.

“Showers in 15 flats were taken out of action while maintenance works and safety checks were carried out, alternative bathroom facilities were provided and students have been offered compensation for the time they were inconvenienced.

“Repairs took approximately two weeks and were completed on 24 October, many flats were able to return to full use before this time.

“All facilities are fully operational and routine testing continues to take place.”