“Serious incidents” occur at the University of Leicester due to collapsing buildings | University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is experiencing a “major incident” due to crumbling buildings on campus that will have to remain closed for years and require classes to be rescheduled while repairs are carried out.

Two major buildings on the university's main campus, where students attend hundreds of lectures and seminars each academic year, are facing closure due to concrete damage and corrosion of the steel reinforcements supporting the structures.

The Bennett Building, which houses the School of Geography, Geology and Environment, and the adjacent Physics and Astronomy Building will remain closed for at least two years for repairs.

A total of 1,500 events, such as lectures and seminars, will be relocated to alternative rooms for the duration of the construction work.

A university spokesperson said: “As two buildings are affected, the university is treating this as a major incident as extensive planning has been required to relocate staff, teaching and research activities to alternative premises on campus. There is sufficient space and planning will be completed in time for the new academic year.”

According to LeicestershireLive, work is needed on the roofs and steel framework of the buildings, which were built in the 1970s, to ensure they are “structurally sound” and “safe for continued occupancy”.

“The impact of the redesign of the timetables will be felt in all faculties and departments of the university,” it said, citing leaked correspondence between the university and staff.

The nearby Adrian Building, which houses the Schools of Life Sciences and Genetics and is famous for being the site where the principle of DNA fingerprinting was discovered in 1984, is also suffering from deterioration and will be permanently closed. Activities in the building have been suspended for the past two years.

The university said the final cost of all repair work was not yet known, but wanted to reassure employees that there would be no layoffs as a result.

It also said that it had “legal obligations to teach our students in person” and that closing the buildings would not result in lectures being held online.

“Our students who are studying in the buildings affected by the closure will be taught in different but equivalent rooms. There is also enough space for staff to continue working on campus,” a spokesman said.

Institutions across the country are facing high repair costs to restore old buildings and crumbling concrete.

The British NHS, for example, recorded record repair costs of £12 billion (£12 billion) to refurbish dilapidated buildings and outdated equipment, compared with £4.7 billion (2011-2012).

The problem has been exacerbated by concerns about the potentially dangerous reinforced aerated concrete in some older buildings, which led to the closure of hundreds of schools and public buildings across the country last year.