AROUND 300 students without accommodation at the University of Hertfordshire will have to stay in hotels until MAY, the father of a student has claimed.

Andrew Brennan contacted the Welwyn Hatfield Times after his daughter Heidi learned she might not get accommodation on campus in Hatfield until the end of the first year of her degree.

Mr Brennan, from Billericay in Essex, said: “There are hundreds of students stuck in hotels.

“This is disgraceful and very disruptive to first years successfully settling in to university life.”

The 50-year-old said his daughter, who is reading business studies, had been told her accommodation would be sorted within a month of her starting her degree.

However, this has not happened.

“We were promised it would be three to four weeks and we have had no communication from them [the university] when students are going to get into halls,” he said.

“If you are 19 and new to a university it doesn’t help you meet people and make friends if you are stuck in a hotel.

“It is important people feel comfortable and are in a safe environment.

“I went to university and stayed in halls in my first year and that makes the year for you.”

A university spokesman said: “The University of Hertfordshire has moved nearly one third of its 300 students from hotels into university accommodation.

“The University is preparing to move a further 100 students into new accommodation in the London Colney area within the next two weeks.

“As a contingency, the university is also negotiating extended booking arrangements with the local hotels as the transfer of students to university accommodation is not moving as quickly as anticipated. In the meantime, the university is focusing on making sure that students have accommodation and that they experience all the facilities available.”