College closes temporarily due to 'extensive' boiler and flooding problems

A SOUTHAMPTON sixth form college has temporarily closed due to "extensive" boiler and flooding issues.

Richard Taunton Sixth Form College will remain closed for the rest of the week to its 800 students following issues with the boiler and flooding.

Areas of the college - rated 'good' by Ofsted - have been left without heating and some rooms have been flooded.

It comes as temperatures across the city plummeted to -4C overnight.

READ MORE: Almost 1,000 Southampton teachers set to strike on February 1

Black ice and freezing conditions have caused chaos for motorists and residents.

Roads have been closed and a number of crashes have been reported due to the icy roads.

Principal Paul Swindale said staff are "working hard" to improve the situation at the Hill Lane premises.

In a statement on the Richard Taunton website, he said: "A large part of Richard Taunton Sixth Form College remains closed for the rest of the week due to extensive boiler and flooding problems.

"Fortunately, there are some areas of the college that are warm, and we have been able to run exams and inset days as planned.

"There are also some staff working in these warm areas.

"We are working hard to get an interim solution by next week so that the whole college can be utilised, we will have more information on this by the end of this week. Keep checking the website for updates.

"I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please be assured that we are doing our utmost to rectify this."

READ MORE: List of school closures announced so far for teachers' strike

Tomorrow, all lessons will be online but some facilities will be made available for those students who cannot work from home or need additional support.

All exams scheduled for tomorrow will go ahead, the college has said.

The location of these will be confirmed with those affected and will take place in heated areas.

Free school meals will be available to collect from college between 12pm and 2pm tomorrow for students.

All buses and transport will run as usual for those students who have exams or need to access support or IT.

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