A petition against Leodis residents being charged for the replacement of poor quality stools has been successful.

The Change.org petition, established two weeks ago, gathered 274 signatures and prompted Residential Accommodation to issue a statement revoking all charges and discontinuing the current fining system.

Ian Robertson, Head of Residential Accommodation at Leeds, stated,

‘All charges for broken stools to date have been waived. Going forward, any stool that’s reported damaged will not attract a damage charge unless the Mansion Group are first able to satisfy myself or one of my team that the damage was definitely caused maliciously.’

Residents were being charged £50 or £60 per flat to replace the broken stools, which students claimed were never fit for purpose.

Jake Finney, the first year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student who organised the petition, said,

‘My flat had been charged for two stools and after asking around I found out that most of the people I knew at Leodis had been unfairly charged for stools. I didn’t plan it much, it was a spur of the moment thing, but after posting it on Facebook it had nearly 200 signatures within a few hours.

Our Halls President, Rory Newbery, saw the petition and advised that I contact Residential Services at the university. I did, and within about a week we’ve managed to secure full refunds for everyone charged this year and they have removed any outstanding charges for broken stools.

I’m happy we’ve won the petition because the charges were completely unfair but mostly I’m just happy I’ve got my £20 back.’

Jessica Murray