Safety fears force students out

Students have been ordered out of a block of rented flats in Leicester because the building has no functioning emergency lighting or fire alarms.

Energy supplier E.On, which disconnected the power supply, said building managers had not paid bills.

The company said it was owed £4,500 and had cut off supplies to shared areas in the privately-owned Deacon House in Deacon Street in the city centre.

The management company said landlords failed to cover the cost of the bills.

Residents were ordered out last Thursday after the fire service and city council inspected the building and found there was no power for emergency lighting in the passageways or for fire alarms in communal areas.

Bills 'unpaid'

Sachin Taank, a student at De Montfort University, said: "To be told that you're going to be removed from your accommodation which is your prime location when you're studying, it's a feeling that I don't ever want to go through again."

In a statement, E.On said: "We have spoken and written to the management companies responsible over the past three years to try to resolve this issue. However, we have only received one payment in four years and there remains £4,500 outstanding on the account."

Account to land registry documents, Deacon House is owned by a firm called Synchronicity in Birmingham.

As it is not contactable by phone, the BBC visited the West Midlands address of the building's management agent Classic Lettings.

Director Mark Jones said landlords had not paid him, so he could not pay the power bill.

Classic Lettings said the students, who have now found new accommodation, would get their £250 deposit back.

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The electricity supply to shared areas has been cut off