"It was hard to get food in lockdown," Manchester Met student says

29 September 2020, 09:10 | Updated: 29 September 2020, 11:14

This Manchester Metropolitan University student returned home after a tough quarantine and told LBC how "it was hard to get food" while she was stuck in her flat.

Students across the UK have been left "trapped" in university halls of residence as the government's lockdown messaging leaves thousands in self-isolation.

With more than 500 cases of Covid-19 being confirmed at roughly 30 UK universities, students are now facing the grim prospect of lonely quarantines.

Outbreaks have left thousands locked down on campuses across the country, some in "vile" conditions, due to a lack of government clarity on whether they can return home to self-isolate.

First year MMU student Lucia is reading film-making returned to her home in Brighton yesterday, "I didn't want to stand another two weeks of that, to be honest."

Read more: James O'Brien questions: "Did universities allow students to return to get money in the bank?"

"We were one of the first flats having to go into quarantine so we got barely any help from our fellow staff and students. It was very hard to get food, we weren't allowed outside," she said.

The rules of now changed, thankfully, she continued, and students are allowed outside.

Lucia told Nick she plans to go back to Manchester Met uni after lockdown has lifted and work from home for now - she said that many students had returned home, like her, but on the first day lockdown was announced.

Explained: Are students shut in halls allowed to go home?

Another Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) student living at halls placed under a two-week quarantine revealed to LBC the "frustrating" lack of communication over the issue.

He said his flat had been left facing a mound of rubbish which they were told to keep indoors.Dan Johnson, a 20-year-old drama and contemporary theatre student, told LBC how an "absolutely vile" pile of bin bags had been left in the flat's storage room while they waited for a member of staff to collect them.

The Cambridge Halls resident said: "We were told that we can't take the bins down - we were told we have to double bag them and leave them in a cupboard for three days and then someone will come a collect them.

"The smell is absolutely vile - there's 10 of us living in this flat so the amount of bins we have to take out is quite a lot."